Pauline and I have done hundreds of meeting over forty years. We never knew ahead of time what we were going to talk about. The Lord always came through at the last minute as to what we were to share.
Whenever any problem cropped up in our family weather it was between Pauline and me or with our kids this is what the Holy Spirit would have us talk about. Some of these situations are kind of embarrassing to you when your kids do some foolish things. Without fail people would speak up and say, “The same thing is happening in my family”.
Have you ever had your kids tell you they wished they had different parents? I expect some of the parents wish they had different kids, it is not that we mean it, it is that we are embarrassed and they have made us look bad and we have failed each other in some way, it causes us pain.
It seems like many of us are very easily offended. Sometimes we get over the offense quickly and other times we never do.
I met a person several times years ago in ministry; I liked this person and considered him a friend. We were out for lunch one day and had a fine conversation. When we finished lunch I picked up the tab and was going to pay for our lunches which was not very much. He looked at me and said, “Why are you paying for my lunch? Oh! I understand, the great evangelist has come to town.”
At that moment something happened in me; it was like something broke or died; he was not my friend after all. I never felt the same about that person again. I guess an offense happened. I was not buying his lunch because I was the great evangelist in town, I was buying his lunch because he was my friend and it was just a little blessing.
I have found that friendships can be very fragile things.
Now I have to confess I have done the same thing to others, I said the wrong things at the wrong times and broke some wonderful friendships I had had for several years and was never able to regain them.
I am much more careful now with my words because I don’t want to offend anymore friends and lose them