*BUILD YOUR FENCE*
Desiring Mercy Devotional
Tuesday 9th May, 2023
Read Matthew 18:21-35
Matthew 18:21-22 KJV - Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
22 Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
We get offended when the personal fences around our lives are indeed short, shorter than the tall egos or self that lives within those walls. Your personal fence dictates what has always been your comfort zone. The fence you put around yourself in a bid to protect your inner self from being accessed by others or hurt by others are good in the sense that they protect you from being abused or misused or hurt. Yet those same protective fences can become the limiting walls that prevent you from reaching out of your comfort zone.
Jesus said that we can protect ourselves from being hurt by others by forgiving them seventy times seven. If getting hurt or offended happens because your fence is too low and can easily be trespassed by the least of people, then staying without hurts or becoming an easy forgiver also means that you focus on building your own walls seventy times seven. Maybe you walk around thinking of yourself as a beauty, a wonder, or a princess or someone so special , yet your dressing, outward looks, punctuality, behaviour , etc does not testify to what you think of yourself on the inside. So you will realise that you start getting offended when people demean you, look down on you or take you for granted. The truth is that you are getting offended by their actions because your outward appearance or “walls” does not match your inward self, which may truly be an honourable person. Protect yourself from easily getting hurt by others by building up on your own outward appearance seven times, and seven times and seven times till seventy times- indeed till your God- given inner glory begins to match your own outward appearance for all to see.
Proverbs 19:11 NLT - Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
Proverbs 19:11 NIV - 1 A person’s wisdom yields patience;
it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.
Overlook offences and look onto your own fence. That’s how to step into true royalty. Remember that in the story that Jesus used to illustrate this, he spoke of a king who could forgive his servant who owed him. The king could not be offended by his subject’s debt because he himself had an abundance already. So he could afford to forgive his offender. When you lack a strong fence in your own life it makes it difficult for you to be rich in mercy. So, dear friend, focus on how to build your own fence- focus on how you appear, how you speak, how you behave around others, how you represent God in your daily activities before others. Seek to improve on them all. When you start focusing your energies on building all these, you will not have energy to fight useless offences.
Desire Mercy!
Anastasia Bruce
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