Make an Allowance for One Another's Faults
Walking through TJ Maxx there were many empty shelves, but I turned down one aisle and the only item on the shelf was this sign! I took it as a sign, LOL, and bought it!
Sitting around a table at a luncheon with ten other ladies, I found I did not know many of the other guests. It was only moments into the female chitter chatter that I recognized a couple things. One, our view points on many life issues were quite different. Two, there were a couple very unhappy individuals filled with negative talk at that table.
Before I headed to this event, I realized I may not know many people. I asked the Lord to give me eyes to see the needs of others and to direct me to one individual with whom God may want me to buil a relationship. Instead, I got caught up in the action, allowed my emotions to rule and by the time I left and got to my car I looked on my Apple watch and my heart rate with 99 BPM. Instead of turning to Jesus, I called my husband and spewed off much of what I had just heard. Knowing I was driving he said, "Take a deep breath."
About an hour later, after working at church, the judgements were still running through my head when God said, "That was you once." UGH, Got cha! The conviction was real and true.
An hour after that I was listening to a podcast by Danny Gokey and his wife. I can't even tell you what it was about, but I heard him say, "We must make an allowance for one another's faults."
I plugged the word allowance into Biblegateway and up came Colossians 3:13 NIV
Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
The CEV puts it this way: Put up with each other, and forgive anyone who does you wrong, just as Christ has forgiven you.
Billy Graham had a quote close to this. "You can justify your own defendedness, but it's rooted in pride. You can't see your own mistakes. Remember kindness, compassion and love cover a multitude of sin." (See 1 Peter 4:8)
Some other verses to nibble on when we consider how we deal with other people's faults.
1) Making allowance for other people's faults means entering relationships with the expectation that people aren't perfect.
Matthew 26:34 Jesus said to him, 'Truly I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times."
2) Making allowance for other people's faults means choosing to be proactive about forgiveness.
Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.
The Song "Love God and Love People" by Danny Gokey I have to get up and dance to this one.
