Square up?

"(3)Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. (4) And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him. " Luke 17:3-4

(KJV)

Let's break this down:

It first says "take heed yourselves", so, "listen carefully, and take the next words to heart".

Next it goes on to outline what one should do if someone "trespasses" you, or offends you. You are not to just act as a door-mat, but to tell them to "cut it out!" or rebuke them.

Then, if they're sorry, forgive them.

Lastly it goes on to say that even if this continues to happen, even if they just can't seem to get their act together, forgive them.

***

This it solid advice for every avenue of our lives. At some point in time we will get annoyed with one another, offended, upset, etc. When this happens we can choose to put on our boxing gloves and challenge the other person, or people, into the ring, or we can be compassionate. These couple verses also go along with the "golden rule"-- "Treat others how you want to be treated."

If you know what it's like to have a bad day, and I'm sure you do, cut your brothers and sisters, friends and colleagues, some slack. Grudges only make wrinkles deeper, and gossip only creates hurt feelings. "Repent, forgive him".