It is a pleasure, and quite easy to be kind to those who are kind, considerate, and respectful. But it can be quite a chore, and challenge to be kind to those who are unkind, inconsiderate, and disrespectful! When someone offends us- and we haven’t learned to hold our tongue, pull away, and run to the Lord to unload the hurt or anger in our hearts- we will most likely get pulled into our offender’s temper, anger, etc., and act in a way similar to the one who is mistreating us. God has a better way for us to live and deal with offenders! We must first work on ourselves by talking(pray) to the Lord about how we feel offended, and work on letting go of the emotions(feel them) attached to the offense. Learning to let go is an ongoing, developing life skill, that by the grace of God, He will help work into our lives. After releasing our unconstructive emotions, we must choose to continually forgive our offender in the same way that God, through Jesus Christ, has forgiven us for our offenses. True forgiveness is a process, because our layered emotions must unravel before we are able to give a full, and complete pardon to our offender. We are not responsible for our offender, nor can we control our offender’s actions and heart- we must work on our heart. If we do not faint in the effort and work it takes to give our negative emotions to the Lord, we will reap the replacement benefits of His peace, joy, and the power to forgive and be kind, even to those who have offended us. We will not get stuck in negative emotions, but we will be able to move forward in the good plans God has for us.

“Let all bitterness and indignation and wrath [passion, rage, bad temper] and resentment [anger, animosity] and quarreling [brawling, clamor, contention] and slander [evil-speaking, abusive, or blasphemous language] be banished from you, with al malice [spite, ill will, or baseness of any kind]. And be kind to one another, tenderhearted [compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted], forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you”(Ephesians 4:31-32).