Our world has changed the principles that many of us grew up believing. We used to be considerate of and look out for our neighbors. Because of our offenses and hurts, we are no longer connected to our neighbors. The human reaction is to retreat when we are hurt. When we become hurt, we begin to build walls and turn inward to protect us from further hurt. Bro. James Hughes tells us that problem with that is that when we do that, we are beginning the process of creating a prison for ourselves. Our world encourages us to be self centered and judgmental. This behavior is contradictory to the will of God and can be very damaging in our relationships.

In our scripture text, Jesus is telling the disciples how to respond to those that offend them. The world and human nature tells us that the response to an offense is revenge and retribution. Bro. Hughes says that the problem with that theory is that no matter what you do, or how much revenge we get, it cannot change the original hurt. It only visits hurt onto someone else. We live in the present. We cannot change one thing about the past and we cannot determine the future. The only time we can influence is the present. The decisions we make in the present are the only way that we can affect our life.

The bible tells us that offenses will come. Not might come, will come. How we choose to deal with these offenses will determine our quality of life. We cannot allow life to determine our choices. We have to choose to live life the way Jesus tells the disciples. The choice is ours. We can forgive our offenses or we can choose to carry the burden with us and have it weigh us down.