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“Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure – not to put it too severely – to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.  Anyone whom you forgive, I also forgive.  Indeed what I have forgiven, if I have forgiven anything, has been for your sake in the presence of Christ, so that we would not be outwitted by Satan; for we are not ignorant of his designs.” (2 Corinthians 2:5-11)

“She’s so phony.  I just can’t stand to be around her. You just don’t know what she’s done.”  Her face was blood red as tears streamed down. Her fists were tightly clenched as she shook them in the air. “I just can’t go back there again and be around her.”

Ever been betrayed or hurt by someone.  It can be devastating.  Most of the time our initial reaction is to protect ourselves by completely pulling away from them and others. Isolation feels like the “safe” thing to do.

But in doing that we’re playing into the enemy’s hand.

Our true enemy is Satan, not the person who offended you.  When we allow Satan to outwit us with his strategies, he takes things that belong to us in Jesus, things like peace, joy, fellowship, a sense of forgiveness and victory.

Satan looks to take advantage of our mistakes, as a church and individuals. He uses it to cause division with each other and distance in our personal relationship with Christ. It becomes a hindrance in our ability to reach others with the gospel.

When we choose to hold onto a grudge, we’re basically saying that the pain this person caused us is greater than what Christ has done for us.  We’re elevating it into a position of authority in our lives.

Satan’s strategy against Paul was simply to make him so stressed out and upset over the Corinthian Christians that he lost peace and was less effective in ministry.

Paul was upset over other believers. He was encouraging them to forgive a fellow believer who had made a mistake.

If we don’t deal with these emotions in a Christ like manner, we will keep them. We will feed them, and they will grow.  And they will lead us in the wrong direction, which will not only hurt ourselves but others – which is what Paul was stressing.

Don’t elevate the offense – elevate Christ. Mercy always triumphs!

“Father help us to see those who have hurt us the way You see them.  Help us to offer forgiveness and keep us from being outwitted by the schemes of Satan.”

For His Glory,

Laura Holmes (www.ephraimministries.org)
TRBC Women’s Life