Whoever covers an offence seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9

There have been a lot of recent events that have brought back some old memories with an old friend. About two years ago, I found out that one of my friends wasn’t who she seemed. She would be my best friend around me, but then tell lies about me behind my back to try to get my other friends to stop liking me. Eventually she even talked bad about me and told lies to my face.

I believed all she said and tried to fix what she was saying about me. One day, a brother of one of my other friends heard what she said and told his mom. I eventually got a call from their mom saying that all my so-called friend had said about me was a lie, and I shouldn’t change who I am. She said that the friend who had said the lies had gotten in trouble.

I then got a call from the friend who was talking bad about me apologizing for all the trouble she has caused me and the lies she had spread. I told her I forgave her, just because I knew that was the godly thing to do, but I didn’t really forgive her.

After that I still had a hard time around her. I was mad at her all the time and I started losing myself and my morals. Eventually, I realized I needed to truly forgive her, because holding on to it was turning me into a bad person.

I tell this story because Proverbs 17:9 says that whoever covers an offence or forgives a wrongdoing seeks love, but those who repeat the wrongdoing or offence will lose or separate from a close friend. When I really forgave her, I did it because I cared for her. When I hadn’t forgiven her yet, I lost my morals and repeated what she had done to me.

Prayer

Dear God, I pray that we continue to learn to forgive those who have wronged us so that we do not lose a friend or ourselves.

Daily Reading: Proverbs 29

– Contributed by Anna Choate