Reflection on Forgiveness in Marriae (2)

[Background Music] [Speaker 1] Christ in relationships can build the most spiritual than the individuals and families that constitute them. God the individual and the godly nation. These are words of restoration and instruction in righteousness concerning relationships. May you be blessed as you listen. [Background Music] [Speaker 2] Remember last month, we had a discussion on this matter of forgiveness. Last month, we looked at forgiveness from the angle of the offended. We looked at what the attitude of the offended should be when it comes to the matter of forgiveness. And as a matter of recap, our attitude should be a matter of life. A bad attitude or a poor attitude can impact us badly. Anybody that has a bad attitude will fail in any matter of life. Be it in matter of forgiveness, be it in matter of marriage, be it in matter of relationship. It is always a determining factor that you will fail in that thing if you do not have the right attitude. Then we looked at what should be the right attitude when it comes to the matter of forgiveness. And our emphasis last month was to look at the matter from the point of the offended. What should be the attitude of the offended? We used David, the son of Jesse, and his son Absalom. But it was not according to the pattern of the Scripture. Regarding what David said about forgiveness, he was too messy. He was so messy. When forgiveness comes from the wrong perspective, it will become very messy and would not be able to accomplish much. David was messy. His father was too tolerant. So the young man was not able to repent. He planned and then went ahead to execute that plan against his father and his mighty men and against the military of Israel. All of these are consequences that could have been avoided if there was maturity in forgiveness. That is just the highlight of what we discussed last month on forgiveness in the depth and the place of forgiveness. I want to quickly go back to our discussion in the month of September. In looking at the matter of forgiveness, we saw that we looked at the matter, not from the angle of the offender. We have not looked at it from the angle of the offender. The offender is a key person in any instance of forgiveness. The offender is a key person. The offense of the offender, his attitude as an offender, goes a long way to determine what happens in that offense. I can remember that last month we read Lamentations chapter 3, where the Bible says the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning. And we related that to forgiveness, that the Lord has a plan that every day he will give a fresh love for our spouses in relation to them. So, we are particular today about the point of the offender. What I want to do this morning is to try to relate the matter of forgiveness from the point of the offender. I want to look at this matter again from the point of the offender in case of commission of an offense. What is the right attitude from the matter of forgiveness? The first thing I really want to say, in opening up this matter, is that it is still all about attitude. There is a way the offender could have a very bad attitude toward offense. And as a result, it may not help the situation of forgiveness. Just like the offended may put up an attitude that is not correct, the offender may do the same. And just like we looked at it from the point of the offended last month, we are looking at it from the point of the offender this month. We want to observe it, to take it, to look at it from the point of the offender and try to relate them one to another. Now, picking up the matter of forgiveness from the point of the offender, I want us to look at something in Genesis. What happened between God and Adam, and then try to relate it to some other aspects of the Scripture. Genesis chapter 3. The serpent came, deceived the woman, and then the woman ate and gave her husband to eat. And subsequently, their eyes were opened, and they realized that they were naked. That is verse 7. It said then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Then the man said, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate." And the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate." Now, we want to look at forgiveness. We looked at it in September from the point of the offended. Now we are going to look at it from the point of the offender. Who are the offenders in this context? Adam and the woman. Who are they? The offenders. The offenders came into the garden. And when the Lord God came to the garden, he was asking, "Where are you?" The offender said he heard the voice of the Lord and went to hide because he knew that he was naked. And the offender was asked, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of what I said you should not eat?" What was the response of the offender? The response was, "The woman whom You gave me." Now, I want us to observe something in this answer. What was the offense? Adam ate of the tree God asked him not to eat of. What was the question? "Have you eaten of the tree?" What was the response? "The woman whom You gave me." This is what we call self-justification. One thing that we must realize about making a situation of forgiveness complicated between you and your spouse or in any relationship is when you bring the spirit of self-justification. One important attitude that an offender must not bring into a situation of offense is passing the buck. You must be able to confront the offense. In relation to your spouse, in any of the relationships, what I call the spirit of self-justification is what I want to tell you. Self-justification is evil. That is the thing I want you to realize. Self-justification is evil. It is an abomination. Now, let's look at another part around this matter, just to make it clear that self-justification has no basis. We are taking the example of God because when we are looking at that of the offended, we looked at God as an example of a certain attitude in forgiveness. And I'm using God and man in this context to show you that we must run away as an offender from the spirit of self-justification. We must not pick up passing the buck. It is evil. Now, let's look at what happened in Genesis chapter 3 where we just read. The Bible made us realize that a conversation took place. Genesis chapter 3 from verse 1. "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, 'Has God indeed said, "You shall not eat of every tree of the garden"?' And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, "You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die."' Then the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate." Now, I want us to look at these things. The Bible made it clear that the serpent stayed with the woman and Adam. And when she took the thing, she gave it to him to eat. And the Bible made us understand that she went ahead to deceive the man. The simple thing was that God told you not to do something. Somebody suggested to you that you should do it. And you believed God and then picked up that thing and did what was not right. You are the one who believed what you have always believed. You have always known that this is not the right thing to do. Then why should you be passing the buck, justifying your wrong? That is the beginning of an offense. Being ready to say, "I have done what is wrong." And another thing that is very important for us to note here. Look at the man who said it was the woman who gave it to him to eat. Do you realize that the way God responded to the man in Genesis chapter 3 down the chapter? That is in verse 17. "Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat of it"..." Now, remember what we have been told in chapter 2 and early chapter 3. In chapter 3 verse 6, the woman saw that the tree was good for food and pleasant to the eyes. She took of it and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. This verse 6, we didn't see any discussion between the two of them. But when we get to verse 17, we realize that there was a discussion between the two of them. Because God said, "Because you have heeded to the voice of your wife." What does that mean? There was a discussion. The woman ate and gave the man to eat. It was not that the man did not know what it was. It was not like she just gave him any apple and he didn't know what it was and he ate. No, that was not what happened. It was not like she just ate and gave the man, and the man didn't know it was that apple. No, that was not what happened. What happened was that when she brought it to the man, the man knew what it was. There was a discussion. The woman convinced the man. It was an error. She tried to convince the man that nothing would happen to him. "Just eat it. Nothing will happen. Look at me, I have eaten it, and nothing has happened." And the man heeded. Because God said, "Because you heeded to the voice of your wife." So there was a discussion between the two of them. There was a conversation. It was not that the man did not know he was about to eat it. And let's even go to the book of 1 Timothy chapter 2. I want us to see something in 1 Timothy chapter 2 verse 11 to verse 14. "Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression." So we see that the eating of the tree by the man was not because he was deceived. The man was not deceived. The man heeded. He went ahead and ate it. He was not deceived. There was a conversation between him and her. And the man decided to heed what God had told him not to do. So it was not that the man was not aware he was about to eat it. Then in verse 17, it made us realize this clearly. In verse 17, the man was still saying, "The woman whom You gave to be with me, she was the one that made me to eat it." But the man was just trying to give self-justification. He was trying to justify himself. And that is very evil. When we are looking at it from the point of the offender, it is very important for you not to put up this attitude that "I am wrong, and I can only justify my wrong because my wrong was a response to somebody else's wrong." Somebody wronging me, that's why I did this. So my wrong is justified. Like they normally say, "When they slap you on one, you want to turn the other one." Now when somebody slaps you on one, and you go ahead to revenge, and they ask you what happened, you say, "They slapped me first." The thing is done. The wrong is done. You are going ahead to do the same. It is evil. There is nothing like, "Oh, I am justified since he was the first to slap me." That you were the first to be slapped was wrong. But you also were wrong to slap back. So the point I'm trying to bring out is that one thing that is important for an offender to avoid is the spirit of self-justification, passing the buck. It is evil. Now let's see how this thing normally shows up. I'm going to take it further from this. Now, you are in a relationship, and you notice that your spouse or the person you are relating with, the person said, "I don't like this thing. Or this thing happened between you and me, and the person is trying to say I don't like this thing. Or this thing is hurting me." I mean, somebody is saying that they are being offended. And you, why did you bring this up? It should be that you are somebody that normally has been doing wrong. "What have I done that you are shouting like that? Is it this small thing that I did that you are shouting like that?" You see what you are doing? You are trying to judge how the offended should react to you when you have done self-justification. You see what you are doing? You are trying to judge how the offended can react to you. "Look at how you're reacting. You are shouting too much." It is all coming from an attitude that you have, the attitude of passing the buck, the attitude of self-justification. You are trying to justify yourself. And that is very evil. When we are looking at it from the point of the offender, it is very important for you not to have this attitude that "I have done wrong, but I can also justify my wrong because your reaction is not correct." You are not correct. That is what you are saying. You are telling the offended that your reaction is not correct. "You should react like this. Your reaction should be this way. Your reaction should not be that way." That is very, very wrong. It is a wrong way to manage offenses. You are wrong, and you are trying to give an analysis. "Now you are shouting that I'm a mad man. Am I a mad man? Just because of this small thing that happened?" You are justifying your wrong. You are saying that your wrong is not a serious one because of the way the person reacted. You are judging the reaction of the person. You are not facing your wrong. You are not facing the offense. You are not being sorry for what you have done. And I want us to note another thing that is very important. Let's look at the man who said it was the woman who made him to eat it. Do you realize that the way God responded to the man in verse 17? God did not analyze the reaction of the woman. That was not what God did. He didn't say, "Okay, the woman gave you, and you ate. So it's okay." No, that was not what God did. What he said was, "Because you have heeded to the voice of your wife, cursed is the ground for your sake." He didn't analyze the reaction of the woman. God was still holding him responsible for his action. It doesn't matter how the other person reacted. I am not saying that the person who is offended cannot misbehave or cannot react anyhow. That is what I am trying to justify. That is what we dealt with last month, correct attitude toward offenses. When we are dealing with it from the point of the offender, we are saying, do not analyze the reaction. Don't analyze what the other person did. You want to judge how the offended reacted to you. That is very, very wrong. It is a wrong way to live. It is not correct. That is what I am saying. I want to show us another example of God reacting to a situation so we can try to compare and show what we are saying. Let's look at 1 Kings chapter 21. That's the story of Naboth and Ahab. 1 Kings chapter 21. Let's look at that thing from verse 1. "And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.' But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The Lord forbid that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you.' So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. But Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, 'Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?' He said to her, 'Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, "Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it." And he answered, "I will not give you my vineyard."' Then Jezebel his wife said to him, 'You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were in his city, dwelling with Naboth. She wrote in the letters, saying, 'Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth with high honor among the people; and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, "You have blasphemed God and the king." Then take him out, and stone him, that he may die.' So the men of his city, the elders and the nobles who were inhabitants in his city, did as Jezebel had sent them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, 'Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!' Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, 'Naboth has been stoned and is dead.' And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, 'Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.' So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite." "Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who lives in Samaria. There he is, in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone down to take possession of it. You shall speak to him, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'Have you murdered and also taken possession?'" And you shall speak to him, saying, "Thus says the Lord: 'In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.'"' So Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, O my enemy?' And he answered, 'I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: "Behold, I will bring calamity on you. I will take away your posterity, and will cut off from Ahab every male in Israel, both bond and free. I will make your house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and like the house of Baasha the son of Ahijah, because of the provocation with which you have provoked Me to anger, and made Israel sin." And concerning Jezebel the Lord also spoke, saying, "The dogs shall eat Jezebel by the wall of Jezreel." The dogs shall eat whoever belongs to Ahab and dies in the city, and the birds of the air shall eat whoever dies in the field.' But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up. And he behaved very abominably in following idols, according to all that the Amorites had done, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel." "So it was, when Ahab heard those words, that he tore his clothes and put sackcloth on his body, and fasted and lay in sackcloth, and went about mourning. And the word of the Lord came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'See how Ahab has humbled himself before Me? Because he has humbled himself before Me, I will not bring the calamity in his days. In the days of his son I will bring the calamity on his house.'" Look at something. Look at these two attitudes. We looked at forgiveness, and the attitude of the offended. Now we are looking at the offender. Look at what happened in Genesis. God came to Adam. "Adam, where are you? Have you committed what I told you not to do?" He said, "Yes, I did." But what did he do? "The woman You gave me." He passed the buck. Self-justification. And as a result, judgment was passed. One thing an offender must avoid is the spirit of self-justification, passing the buck. It is evil. Now look at Ahab. There was nobody that behaved like Ahab. The Bible gave us the record. "But there was no one like Ahab who sold himself to do wickedness in the sight of the Lord, because Jezebel his wife stirred him up." Now, when Ahab heard this judgment of God, that he tore his clothes, he put sackcloth on his body and fasted and lay in sackcloth and went about mourning. And God noticed his reaction. God noticed the reaction of the offender. The offender said, "Oh Lord, I'm sorry." He was sorry. And look at the response he got from God. Because he was sorry, God stepped down. He said, "I will not bring the calamity in his day." You see how attitude can determine what we get. When you justify yourself, God stepped out. Okay, you want to be justified? Okay, you see. You think you are justified because of the reaction? Then you see. There are people that get the mercy of God even when they have done evil. But when you are justifying your evil, God will eventually punish evil. Don't be surprised when you do evil and you look as if somebody is doing evil. Don't believe God did not take notice. What God noticed was how the offender reacted. And God, in His infinite wisdom, responded differently to the situation. So, as the offender, your reaction matters to God. "Oh Lord, I'm sorry." He said he was sorry. He tore his clothes. He acknowledged he was wrong. Unlike Adam who said the woman made him to eat it. When you justify yourself, don't believe God is with you. One important attitude an offender must avoid is the spirit of self-justification, the spirit of passing the buck, the spirit of trying to determine how the offended reacts. You must not analyze the reaction of the offended. You may think your spouse is overreacting. Your husband or wife may be overreacting to the offense. But you should realize that the reaction is coming from the fact that you have done something wrong. Don't try to confront the offender by telling them they're doing something wrong. "Don't shout. Don't talk too much." That is the spirit of self-justification. You are trying to justify your wrong by how the person reacted. "Okay, now you've shouted at me. You've spoken to me like that. Am I a mad man? Because of this thing that I did, you're treating me like this." That is the spirit of self-justification. This is why it's important for offenders to have the right attitude. You must accept your wrong. Don't justify your wrong. And don't try to criticize how the reaction of the offended should be. It is a wrong way to live. It's not correct. Now, I want us to look at another example. I want us to go to the book of Matthew chapter 5. From verse 38 to 48. "You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two. Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away. You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Look at something. It is important that we use the natural way of life when we are matured Christians. Natural observation. "I did this to her. She reacted this way." You may feel the offended is overreacting. But you must also realize that it is because you have done something wrong. Maintain a positive attitude. Over time, the person who is overreacting will also learn their lesson. After they have shouted and shouted and realized that you are a mature person, you will be the one that will help them to be mature. If you also are not mature, you will start shouting too. "Ah, because of this thing that I did, you're shouting at me? I've seen women, I've seen men, they don't react like this. Why are you reacting like this?" It is all because of the attitude that you have, the attitude of passing the buck, the attitude of self-justification. These are bad attitudes in managing offenses. You take them to the hospital. All of us are in the school of maturing. You see, some people are growing, but they are not growing up. You see someone who is growing up by their mannerisms. When a wife is trying to talk to her husband like a baby, "Don't do this. Why are you responding like this?" You need to be very mature. All these years the Word of God in your life is not impacting you. And they are in the majority. It has always been so. Check 1 Corinthians chapter 10. It says our fathers, they all passed through the sea. They all drank the same spiritual drink from the rock that followed them. They all ate the same spiritual food. But with many of them, God was not well pleased. Their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. It was only Joshua and Caleb that had a correct spirit. So, when God is looking at people, He is checking if they have a correct spirit to be helped. That is the thing. So, when things come between people, you must learn to respond correctly. Don't join the majority that are responding wrongly. And let me tell you that being mature is not about age. Somebody can be old, yet they have a childish life. It is when you submit to the Word of God. Maturity comes when you say, "I'm sorry. I have done wrong. I will not repeat this again by God's help." That is maturity. It is not an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. That is old age. In managing offenses, you must have the right attitude. You must not ever try to justify your wrong. You must not ever try to determine the level of reaction of the offended. You must not ever try to pass the buck. If you have offended, you should apologize. But when you are mature, okay, you agree with the person. "Okay, let's go. I'm sorry." And you keep repeating the same thing. You don't repeat the wrong. You should be mature. You are apologizing, but you're still doing the same thing. It means you are not sincere. "I'm sorry." Then you go and do it again. That is not sincere apology. It is just a lip service. Apology is acknowledgment of wrong and a commitment not to repeat it. That is why we say maturity comes by time. Habit cannot be broken in a day. It has to be unlearned again over time. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 3] Praise the Lord. I want to ask this question based on what we just talked about. How do we handle a situation where a woman just resigned from her place of work without the consent of her husband? Because she is seeking God for a state government job. She moved on her own without considering the husband. And when she gets there, the husband said, "This is wrong." And she began to pass the buck. She said, "The woman whom You gave me." Without considering other factors. How do we handle this kind of situation? [Speaker 2] Okay, thank you. You see, this kind of situation about submission and maturity, it is applicable to all believers. In relationship, there is no "lone man" or "lone woman" in marriage. Any time you are alone, that aloneness will be a hole in that marriage. There must not be a "lone person" in marriage. It is thinking together, planning together, doing together, acting together. In the case of a woman who says she took a job without the consent of her husband because she said she's doing the work of God, no body can stop her from doing the work of God. We have these kinds of situations in many of the African countries. But the thing is, the Bible says to obey is better than sacrifice. The correct thing is to agree together. It's better to agree together than for one person to be doing their own thing. One person thinks this is what God is telling them to do. And the other person says it is not correct. The correct thing is for both of them to agree together and pray about it. If you have not agreed, you can wait for some time. Because God cannot be calling you when your home is in crisis. He's a God of peace. He cannot be calling you when you are in a mess. He's a God of order. So you must agree together. The important lesson for handling it is that the person cannot just go and resign because they feel God is calling them. That is the advice I can give to that person. Talk to your husband. Agree together. If you want to start fighting the other person, then the thing will get worse. The best thing is to stay together. Let's pray together and see how God will resolve the situation. God is the one that will help you. God will eventually resolve the situation. But it's not right for any of the parties to act without agreement. It is not correct. [Speaker 2] The key thing about the matter of forgiveness is that it's actually a heart thing. It is not just about words. Anybody who has not encountered Jesus cannot understand forgiveness. So the first thing is to know Jesus. It is only in knowing Jesus that we can forgive. Jesus gave us the pattern of forgiveness. He said to forgive seventy times seven. He didn't mean seventy times seven literally. He meant we should continue to forgive because we have received forgiveness from God. So, the point is, before you can forgive others, you must receive forgiveness from Jesus yourself. Praise the Lord. [Speaker 3] Exactly. That is right. [Speaker 2] Okay, another question. How can you help a spouse that is always justifying his actions? [Speaker 2] The place of the spouse is prayer and counsel. You don't confront. If you confront, you are adding fire to the matter. You need to put up maturity. Like I said, a man has an ego. Don't take that ego away from the man. Rather, maturity will tell you how to deal with him as an offender. Don't confront him in his past. Don't say, "You're a man that doesn't listen." A man will react negatively. But when you are mature and confront the man by your silent prayer and talk to the Lord, he will be able to be helped. Same thing with women. They can be very stubborn sometimes. You see how Delilah was. She kept on and on and on. Even when she knew she was doing the wrong thing, she kept nagging the man until she got it. That's how some women are. But maturity will help you to know how to deal with your spouse. One important thing from the point of the offender is stay quiet. Don't criticize. Don't criticize what the reaction of the offended should be. You want to be the one to tell the offended, "This is what I want your reaction to be. Your reaction should be like this." That is very, very wrong. It is not correct. It is not correct. I want us to conclude on this matter. It is a very important thing from the point of the offender. You must do everything on your part never ever to justify your wrong. You must do everything on your part never ever to try to determine the level of reaction of the offended. You must never ever try to pass the buck. If you have offended in any matter, you should confess your wrong. You must acknowledge your wrong and consult your spouse. Don't analyze the reaction. If the person reacted wrongly, learn your lesson. Apologize. Stay quiet. Let God help the situation. If you are also reacting because the offended is reacting, you're making it worse by fighting. So the thing is, okay, let's pray together. Talk about things. Maintain a positive attitude. Praise the Lord. I believe we have done something this morning. Let us pray. [Background Music] [Speaker 2] Our Father and our God, we thank You for this opportunity to be here this morning. We return all glory unto You. We pray that You give unto us the right attitude as an offender and as the offended. Give us the right attitude to manage our home and our relationships. In the name of Jesus. We pray for the right attitude to manage our relationship with friends, in our workplace, and everywhere we find ourselves. Lord, we pray for the right attitude in Jesus' name. Lord, we pray that at the end of the day, we will make it with You in Jesus' name. We will make everything in Jesus' name. Thank You, everlasting Father. In Jesus' mighty name we have prayed. Amen. [Speaker 1] Let's share the grace together. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us now and forevermore. Amen. [Background Music] [Speaker 1] This message is coming to you from Family Tent Ministry, a Christian ministry involved in enriching the lives of singles and married through preaching and teaching of God's word, discipleship, family life enrichment, social and community development, and mission work. Our regular activities are: Discipleship class every Monday, 5:00 PM; Adolescents and Singles Forum, every first Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Marriage Forum, second Saturday of every month at 10:00 AM; Family life seminars, regular school outreaches, and everyday counseling. For further counseling, you can reach us at our location: Life Camp by the First Bridge, Ilaro community, opposite Rejoice filling station along Ilesha road, Akure, Ondo state, Nigeria. You can also reach us through our social media handles: familytent@yahoo.co.uk, familytentministry01@gmail.com, www.familytentministry.org. Our phone numbers are: 08033861136, 07033613848. God bless you all.