Love Covers Over....

I am so glad you are here, my dear friend!

I was thinking that there are few gifts more gratefully appreciated then someone overlooking our wrongs or faults.

I had a boss once with whom I butted heads quite a bit. To be honest, many times I cried out my frustration and hurt on the way home.

I have to say, though, that one thing I truly admired and appreciated about him is that, when I REALLY messed something up, he was completely and utterly forebearing. Like it never even happened. He merely took the mess I made and fixed it without any criticism or unkindness to me.  It never got mentioned again, he did not act irritated with me, nothing.  It was a blessing.  It made me want to do better.

TWS and my children, too, are forebearing with me. I can get task saturated or filled with human frailty, and they let it roll right off of them. I know I am wholly in the wrong, but they overlook my glaring error and give me a hug and say they understand. Nothing makes me want to be a better person more than when someone is forebearing with me.

I have had the opportunity to give forebearance to others, too, and the look of relief and the rush of words of how sorry they are and how quickly they will fix it as soon as they realize that I am not going to be harsh or critical of them, even if I have a "right" to, is as much a balm to my soul as it is to theirs.

Of course we get this ability to be forebearing from the Lord--He is always patient and loving with us and erases our sins as soon as we acknowledge that we did sin and are sorry. He wipes it clean like it never happened.

I think I want to look extra hard at ways I can be more forbearing in my life.  I want to get over my instinct to irritation and give that sweet, gentle gift of "Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more" to others.  How much more to our benefit, their's, and the Lord's if they repent out of a full heart for our kindness to them, instead of spitting out a "Sorry" through gritted teeth in the face of our ire or frustration?  We all so desperately need someone to show forebearance to us, and maybe, just maybe, it will bring someone closer to the Lord when we put our "right" to get angry aside. 

What a wonderful thought!