Good sense makes a man restrain his anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense. - Proverbs 19:11

We have visited the topic of anger MANY times here at Moms of Faith. However, this part of anger is a little different. This is a vengeful type anger. An unforgiving anger. An anger that requires someone to pay. This type of anger is sin.

Let’s break our base Scripture down and dig into the meat of God’s Word…

“Good sense makes a man restrain his anger,”

In the original Hebrew “good sense” actually comes from sekel and means wisdom. So when we restrain our anger we are manifesting wisdom in our lives.

Let’s look closely into what exactly “overlook” and “restrain” mean…

I looked them both up in the dictionary and found the following:

Overlook is to fail to notice or consider. To excuse or pardon.

In the thesaurus I found; ignore, disregard, excuse, forgive and shrug off.

Restrain is to hold back from action. To limit or hamper the activity, growth or effect of — to bind back.

In the thesaurus I found; keep under control, gag, muzzle, prevent, stop, shackle, and handicap.

This is very enlightening to me. Think about all that we have done. Think about the sin that we all commit every day. Yet, our loving and merciful God puts mercy into practice every day. He chooses to see the Blood of Jesus and chooses to pardon our mistakes. We serve a Holy God and I am certain that this world offends His holiness every moment of every day…yet…He holds back His anger on mankind.

What exactly IS offense?

An offense is a violation or breaking of social or moral rule; transgression; sin. It is something that offends or displeases.

When I looked up offense in the thesaurus I found words like; insult, disrespect, rudeness, harm, abuse, embarrass, and humiliate.

I find this profound. Think about how many people in your life have insulted you, been rude to you, abused and humiliated you. Seriously, if we thought about it, we would find that someone does something just about every day that displeases us and opens the door for offense to be taken, and bitterness to plant itself in our hearts.

Now, flip it around and think about how you and I fail EVERY day in some area or another. We sin EVERY day. We need to repent for something EVERY day.

What does God choose to do?

He sent His Beloved Son to take our place and suffer for all of our decay so that He can look BEYOND our transgressions.

Who do we think we are to judge another man for His sin when WE sin. Who are we to hold onto an offense when we have been pardoned?

Let’s see just how serious God is on the subject of offense and mercy…

For just as you judge and criticize and condemn others, you will be judged and criticized and condemned, and in accordance with the measure you use to deal out to others, it will be dealt out again to you. - Matthew 7:2.

Matthew 18:23-35:

Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a human king who wished to settle accounts with his attendants.

When he began the accounting, one was brought to him who owed him 10,000 talents [about $10,000,000],

And because he could not pay, his master ordered him to be sold, with his wife and his children and everything that he possessed, and payment to be made.

So the attendant fell on his knees, begging him, Have patience with me and I will pay you everything.

And his master’s heart was moved with compassion, and he released him and forgave him cancelling the debt.

But that same attendant, as he went out, found one of his fellow attendants who owed him a hundred denarii [about twenty dollars]; and he caught him by the throat and said, Pay what you owe!

So his fellow attendant fell down and begged him earnestly, Give me time, and I will pay you all !

But he was unwilling, and he went out and had him put in prison till he should pay the debt.

When his fellow attendants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed, and they went and told everything that had taken place to their master.

Then his master called him and said to him, You contemptible and wicked attendant! I forgave and cancelled all that great debt of yours because you begged me to.

And should you not have had pity and mercy on your fellow attendant, as I had pity and mercy on you?

And in wrath his master turned him over to the torturers (the jailers), till he should pay all that he owed.

So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.

If that didn’t convict you, this will…

There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. – James 2:13

WOW!

In closing, let’s finish by looking at our base Scripture…

“and it is his glory to overlook a transgression or an offense.”

Hmmm…I think above three references explain this one. It is for OUR benefit to overlook an offense!

Let’s be careful what we allow ourselves to hold onto. Let’s make sure we are always prayerfully considering all angles, forgiving, showing abundant mercy,  and allowing God to speak to us and use His Word as our compass.

Let’s Pray;

Daddy God, help me to forgive others when I am wronged. Help me to show mercy and not judge. Teach me to love like YOU love. Convict me when I am acting in a manner that displeases You. I want to live a life that shines for You and shows the world Your loving kindness, mercy and compassion. I do not want to misrepresent you by acting out in my flesh and letting offense and unforgiveness rule me. I love You Lord. You are Worthy of all glory, honor and praise. You are an awesome God. Mighty and filled with compassion. Thank You for loving me. In Jesus Mighty Name, Amen.

Your Homework

Memorize: There will be no mercy for those who have not shown mercy to others. But if you have been merciful, God will be merciful when he judges you. - James 2:13

Dig Deeper:

I want to really encourage you to look up and study the following Scriptures…even the ones we already discussed. They are all meant to help get this lesson into your spirit and help you to grow in the areas of mercy and overlooking offenses.

Scriptures:

• Proverbs 19:11
• Micah 6:8
• Matthew 18 (whole chapter)
• Matthew 6:15; 7:2
• Luke 6:32, 37
• Romans 2:1
• Colossians 3:13
• James 2:13
• 1 John 4:20

For Further Study

We have also done some devotionals in the past that tie in perfectly with this topic. You may want to bookmark them and come back to do further studying.

• Forgiveness
• Anger, Conflict, and Unforgiveness
• A Mother’s Battle
• Flesh v/s Spirit  Series Devotional
• Judgment and Mercy
• The Two Most Important Commandments – Love
• Hindrances to the Spirit Working in Our Lives

God bless you!!

Copyright © Lara Velez, Moms of Faith, All Rights Reserved

Related Topics:

1. Anger, Conflict, and Unforgiveness
2. Do you diligently Seek Him?
3. Forgiveness, part 2
4. Forgiveness, part 1
5. The Two Most Important Commandments – Love