Life is lived on purpose. You don’t wait for life to happen to you. No, you plan for it. While we may not be able to always predict what may come our way tomorrow, to a large extent, we can determine what our responses should be. For instance, I have already determined in my heart that I shall live a life of prompt forgiveness, no matter what. I have decided, with God’s help, that I will never carry grudges in my mind. I understand that some hurt may be deeper, but I also know that I can always count on the Holy Spirit, to stay true to my resolve. A friend once offended me, and when he came apologizing, I told him, “I forgave you, even before you did what you did.” You needed to see the look on his face!

The decision to live an offense-free life is one of the most important decisions you will ever make today. The reason is that offenses will always come. So it’s wisdom to have a predisposition that will always put you over offenses.

Another tip is PROMPT FORGIVENESS.

Paul the apostle gives us this tip in Ephesians 4:26
“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry” (AMP)

The battle for forgiveness is first lost or won in the mind. The speed with which you handle a wrong done against you matters a lot. The longer you keep your mind brooding over the offense, the deeper the hurt becomes and the stronger its control over your thoughts and emotions. And the longer you hold a grudge, the more room you allow the devil to come in, and influence your mind for evil.

Also, the longer you hold, nourish and nurse a hurt in a your mind, the more difficult forgiveness becomes. The quicker the easier.

MAKE ALLOWANCE FOR OFFENSES.
The Bible says,
“Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”
(Colossians 3:13, NIV)

This phrase, “bearing with one another” carries the idea of making room or allowance in our minds for others. It’s being able to accommodate; being tolerant. I am thinking of expansion joints. These are put into a building, to make room for expansion due to heat. So that when the building comes under intense heat and it’s forced to expand, those expansion joints accommodate the increase, without any damage to the building.
So today, by the ability of God, begin to create expansion joints in your mind. So that you will not give way when offenses come. For they will surely come.

PRAYING FOR THE OFFENDER
I have found this to be very effective, especially when my mind struggles with the idea of letting go an offense. I have found that, after praying for, and not against, blessing and not cursing the person, my heart begins to become tender towards him/her. And whenever I persevere, in some cases, I even start feeling affection for them.

Apostle James admonishes us to pray for those who offend us. And the result? Healing in our thoughts and emotions.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
(James 5:16, NIV)
Jesus asked us to, not curse, but bless this who hurt us.

Prayer changes us.
While your prayers may not necessarily change the person who has hurt you, they have the power to change you for the better. They tenderize your mind, affect your disposition towards the offender. And makes letting go of the offenses easier.

In summary, forgiveness becomes a lot easier, if we decide in advance to live an offense-free life; forgive promptly; make some allowance in our minds for others; and pray for, but not against, the person who may have wronged us.

Wishing you an offense-free life!

With much love,

Prince Iorungwa Najime