Easy Offences

"Some people were upset..." he told me. I hung up the phone, explained the situation to Ben and retreated to the bedroom. I felt as if the wind had been kicked out of me and from Ben's face I could tell he felt the same.

I sat on the bed praying, Lord, really? People we don't even know are upset about something we haven't even done? It's not fair!

Offences are so easily taken up.

"We'll have to get used to it." Ben said, "This won't be the last time it happens."

He's right. It won't be the last time. One of the main reasons people leave this kind of work is because of interpersonal relationships with other expats, not because they are dissatisfied with the work itself.

Jesus talked about this. A short time before he went to the cross, bloodied for the wrongs of the world, Jesus washed his disciples' feet and urged them towards love. Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another.

Easter approaches. Forget bunnies, colored eggs and candy. I'm hanging my heart around an empty tomb. Around the promise that love covers offences and rights relationships.

This is the kind of love we are talking about— not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.  

My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.

1 John 4:7-12 The Message