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Beloved by Jesus and Getting “Bugged” by Less

  “Fools show their annoyance at once” Prov. 12:16. “A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense” Prov. 19:11.

 

Lord Jesus, reading these Scriptures, I want to respond, “Busted”—for I stand convicted. But I choose to respond, “Beloved”—because that’s the only way we ever really deal with our sin. Because of your great love for us, repentance is a joy and hope for change is real.

This side of glorification, I don’t really expect to be annoyance-free or perfect at overlooking offenses. But I do believe I can get “bugged” by less and take more of life in stride. Jesus, give me and my friends grace and wisdom to know what to take seriously and what not to lose any sleep, joy, peace over.

Give us bigger hearts and thicker skin. Life between your resurrection and return will continue to be marked by imperfect people, broken everything, and inward groaning for the Day of all things new. Holding onto slights, rehearsing hurtful comments, mulling over ways we can get even—nothing good can really come from those things.

In a culture where road rage has spread to entitlement rage, having-to-wait rage, identity rage, politics rage, you’re-in-my-parking-spot rage, you-took-the-last-cookie rage… Jesus, we want to be different, because you call us to be different. Kindness, not rightness, is to mark us—the fruit of the Spirit, not the confirmation of our immaturity.

In fact, Jesus, help us be more aware of when we’re the ones being unnecessarily annoying. Even more so, help us stay aware of your great love for us, your promise of sufficient grace for every situation, and the profound hope we have through the Gospel. Thank you, and So Very Amen.

 

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