Be Slow to Take Offense

‘Let every man be quick to listen,slow to speak and slow to anger.’

– James 1:19

But why is it so difficult to be slow to offend?

What open wounds

Exposed to hot knives

Have taken me there?

The bitter taste

of resentment

Still on my tongue

If pushing my buttons were a sport

I would lose every time.

Each imagined slight

Or real live betrayal

Has no sliver of light between them

They merge

And become one

And all the lines blur

It’s all very well

To advise

But when

that button is

so vunerable…

When it feels like everyone finds it

temptingly delicious to push…

I need to take responsibilty

For how I feel.

‘Human anger does not produce the righteousness

that God desires.’ – James 1:20

I need to understand why it feels how it feels.

It feels nasty, disconnected, like I’m outside myself.

Like I’m not there anymore.

‘Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in the mirror and after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.’

-James 1:23 -24

That’s exactly what it feels like!

Feelings of hurt and anger sometimes makes us feel disconnected.

They alienate us from our our basic selves. But wait a minute, I need hope that I can be slow to offend. Can you give me that?

‘Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’ – James 1:4

I get it. Now there is understanding and hope for change.

But where is the unconditional love, where is the hug that I so desperately need?

‘If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.’

-James 1:5

And suddenly all the heat of the anger melts away and in its place is the warmth of the hug.