Forgiveness, or rather the lack of it, is the hallmark of many frustrated believers.  Teeth grinding, anger, grudges, etc…are all set in motion by believers who have been forgiven so much, yet refuse to forgive others.  Stop me if you have heard this before….

May I recommend, saving forgiveness for the “biggies”! (abuse, neglect, manipulating, deception, etc…you know, the stuff that is obvious) and don’t waste it on the small stuff.

Scripture says something very interesting in Proverbs 19:11…

 “A man’s wisdom gives him patience; it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

In other words, the next time someone hurts your feelings, is mean, questions your parenting, or shoots you a nasty look…..again” ——————- OVERLOOK IT!”

You don’t have to receive it … grapple with your feelings about it … consciously decide that you should forgive them … work to suppress your real feelings … find yourself wishing your offender harm … force the Holy Spirit to convict you of your sin … repent … seek forgiveness from your original offender for your own gossip, hate, and lies…restore the relationship (hopefully) …. move on with life.

Wouldn’t it be easier to simply OVERLOOK IT!!

•  Don’t even receive it…
• Don’t give it any merit…
• Don’t let it stick to you…
• Don’t rehearse it over and over in your mind…
• Dismiss it quickly…
• Don’t mark it as an offense
• Flush it, drop it, and don’t touch it again.

 By the way, this is much different from restraining yourself or acting like it does not bug you. Doing that makes you a “STUFFER” and at some point, all of the events (and associated emotions) will come out in ways you cannot predict. Yep…you will snap!

What I am talking about is a genuine evaluation and dismissal of an event (and related emotions) that has been judged to be inconsequential.

“Overlook” the small stuff and save “forgiveness” for the big things…