November 12, 2023

Proverbs 12: 16 A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. (NIV)

True civility is a by-product of the Holy Spirit’s presence in the believer’s life.*

It is the sad truth about our society today: everyone seems to think they have a right to let you know how they feel about every little annoyance, and to pay back insult with insult. Can you not just let anything go? Do you have to sink to the level of those who are bugging you or offending you? Have you ever found anything to be beneath your dignity to respond to? Is anyone prudent anymore?

As Christians, of course we should be nicer, more civil people. But there’s more to it than being cordial. In Galatians 2: 20, Paul reminds us that we are crucified with Christ and we no longer live – Christ lives in us. When we are the recipient of unpleasantness, it shouldn’t touch us. We are dead. As someone has said, “You can’t insult a corpse.”*

So, are you just “mostly dead,” like Westley in The Princess Bride? Then keep in mind that “there’s a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.”* Dead to the world takes some getting used to. Living in the body while living by faith in the Son of God is a process. As you walk with the Lord, can you see yourself moving away from the world? Do the things of this life trouble you less and less? Do you find yourself insulated from the insults? Are you all dead to the world and all alive in Christ? What is keeping you alive to the world and its offenses?

We’ve died to offenses even as we’ve died to the world.*