The Glory in Overlooking Offense (Proverbs 19:11)
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Proverbs 19:11
Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.
This is an all-timer, verse-wise, and I’ve selected it to pray through today because, surprise – it builds really well off of our verse yesterday, Proverbs 10:12.
Yesterday, we talked about how the world’s way is to fight fire with fire – to return offense for offense. That’s the world’s standard. ‘You hurt me? Alright bet I’m going to hurt you back.’ ‘You offended me? I’ll make sure you regret that.’
But the Christian standard? It’s different. It’s Romans 12 and Proverbs 25:21-22: ‘Bless those who persecute you. Serve your enemies. Overcome evil not with evil, but with good.’
That’s the Christian standard.
And that brings us to our verse today, Proverbs 19:11.
‘Good sense makes one slow to anger,
and it is his glory to overlook an offense.’
I think you must know it is a sign of great strength, not weakness, to bear and overlook offense.
Again, that’s not how the world sees it: the world sees retaliation as strength. If you hit back, you’re powerful. If you let it go? You’re weak. The world says the strong are the justice distributors who can make wrongs right and the ones who make sure ‘you gon’ feel my wrath’ (shout-out to Key and Peele).
But in fact, that person’s weak in God’s eyes. We’ll look at this tomorrow, but Proverbs makes it clear that one of the greatest strengths someone can have is control over their own spirit. To have self-control.
Real strength is self-control.
I think this can be as grand as not returning the punch thrown by someone in your direction (God forbid you ever find yourself in that situation) or as simple as not returning the rude and poor lane change by a car that left you wanting to tailgate them.
Either way, it is your glory to overlook an offense. Again, it’s a sign of strength to be able to do that, and the humbler and more meek the man, the one most dependent on the Lord and His Spirit, the more ready and able to overlook offense.
Now I also would be remiss if I did not emphasize just how GLORIOUS it is to overlook an offense, as it’s in the likeness to and in the character and GLORY (there’s that word again) of God.
Think about it: God could have held every one of your sins against you.
But instead – He did something radical.
He sent Jesus to take your offenses on Himself. To bear them on a cross.
He didn’t ignore them; rather, He paid for them.
And now, when He looks at you, He doesn’t see your offense or your sin. He overlooks that. All He sees is Jesus.
That’s why overlooking an offense isn’t just nice – it’s like God’s character.
I love that. Now for you, as you think about this verse, ask yourself:
Have I been slow to anger and quick to overlook offense recently?
What offense do I need to let go of today?
And lastly, how does knowing Jesus has overlooked all my offenses change how I treat others?
If those questions stirred something in you – if there’s an offense you need to let go of – I want to pray over that now.
