Tuesday, December 15

If you endure  when you are beaten for doing wrong, what credit is that?  But if you endure when you do right and suffer for it, you have God's approval.
—1 Peter 2:20

None of us likes to be accused or blamed because it makes us feel bad about ourselves. If we have done the deed that we are being accused of, we may be angry that we have been found out or we may regret the wrong that we have done. 

Still, we are likely to defend or justify our actions in order to escape judgment or to avoid the consequences. Sometimes,however, we are able to listen patiently and quietly without attempting to prove that we are right. This is praiseworthy, but since we really are at fault, it seems the proper and natural response.

But what about when our spouse complains that we have been insensitive and we believe we have been making an extra effort to be gentle and supportive? What about when our supervisor faults us for not completing a project when it was not our responsibility to do so?

What about when someone who is trying to undermine us accuses us of something we didn't do? It is when we are innocent that we find it hardest to be patient and endure. It takes courage, but that courage comes from knowing that we belong to God, are known by God, are held by God.

Gracious God, when I am falsely accused, let my patience prove my innocence.