Being insulted can leave a deep wound between people and even people groups. It can cause lasting damage to relationships. I remember a time when a close friend refused to accept a simple bowl of homemade soup when her husband was recovering from serious illness. I knew others had brought food to the couple. The act seemed to undermine the friendship and I felt diminished. I suppose we have felt discounted many times over the years and are challenged to forgive and move forward, focusing on the positive things that occur with people.
However, there is another level of insult that shakes and affects our own faith and our relationship with God himself. I remember once someone told me that when I continued to carry my sin and feel guilty over my mistakes that I was insulting the God who provided permanent forgiveness of my sins through the substitutionary death of His own son, Jesus Christ. If I still carried my sins, I was denying the power of God in forgiving them.
That was a new thought to me. As I have since thought about hearing that remark, I realize I often insult God in ways that deny what He has done for me and who He is. For instance, when I feel unloved, I insult the deep love he has for me and has proven by his actions toward me and as expressed in the Bible, His own words. How this must grieve Him!
When I feel lost and alone, I am denying the assurances throughout Scripture that He is always with me and will never leave and forsake me. He is available for me to speak to Him and hear from Him 24/7. My next breath, my next thought, can enfold me in His presence and in His loving care.
When I have challenges and doubts that bring me to sadness or frustration, it sometimes affects me deeply. I feel scared or paralyzed by my situation. Yet, I know I am a child of God who protects me and has a plan to use all my circumstances for good. Am I insulting Him by living as though these things are not true after all?
In thinking about my ups and downs though this lens, I realize these issues are faith issues. Immersing myself in truth, through what I have learned to be true about God, can free me to live more as God intends. Instead of insulting Him with my denying what He’s done and who He is, I would be bursting with praise and trust that would be visible to all. May we all live out of the truth we know!