When your neighbor offends you, you are required to forgive. Serving him is one way to facilitate such forgiveness. Find a special way to meet a need for your neighbor. Minister to him in a way that brings healing. Usually, it helps to do something physical and tangible. Don’t look for the easy way out. This kind of service should cost you something. Use your time, your energy, and your resources to perform this task. Bake him a cake, shop for a special gift, or make one, prepare a surprise. If the pipes have been cleaned of unforgiveness, you will begin to feel a twinge of happiness and gratitude as you prepare to care for another.
I awakened in the morning still angry with Dan, one of the many young people God has placed in our care from time to time. He had betrayed me again, and I was at the end of my patience. As I walked around the house fuming inside I turned to an activity that usually gives me comfort: baking. As I pulled out the ingredients for cookies I touched the walnuts. “Dan doesn’t like walnuts in his cookies”, I thought. I put them back and began to assemble only those ingredients that he likes. Gradually, as I baked the cookies, I felt my mood change. Soon my heart had softened and I no longer wished to do him bodily harm. I was actually happy that I had done something that would bring him joy and looked forward to surprising him when he came home. I also began to form the words of the confrontation we would have. I felt God selecting words of grace, words of affirmation, and words of instruction. Honest, loving, communication intended for correction and healing replaced the bitter, self-centered diatribe I had been planning. Dan was completely unprepared for the cookies and my attitude. This was not what his experience had taught him to expect from someone who was upset with him. God had a plan to reach him through love and forgiveness.
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