Don’t take it

Some time ago I was meditating on a reflection about what we receive or make room for in our lives. And one of the things that most often happen to us, and what we are left with, is offenses. I once heard this story from a wise man who asked this young man: If someone have a gift and brings it to you, but you decide not to take it, who owns the gift? To which the young man responds: To the one who brought it, because I did not take it. The wise man replies: you have understood. The same happens with offenses.

We can perceive an offense according to how vulnerable we are to what others say, but the reality is that, it does not matter or it is not about what someone can tell me, but about what I decide to interpret or how I decide to take it in myself. I may feel offended or hurt, or I decide to reject that offense and not give it space in my feelings.

You may think: saying it is very easy, but putting it into practice is different. And you are right. Although, believe me, I’m not talking about something that I didn’t have to experience myself. Certainly we have all gone through the bitter experience of an offense or at least the intention to offend someone, directly or indirectly.

But when it comes to evaluating what is most valuable, I am convinced that my heart and the peace that I manage to maintain when I do not take the offense are priceless. I could take the offense and even refute or return it, but I prefer to keep my heart because the word teaches me that life flows from the heart. I prefer not to accumulate in my life things that leave broken in the soul. Love and forgiveness are the basis of the teachings of Jesus, without them in my life, as a real practice, the experience of Jesus would be null. And I long for its fullness.

So if someone decides to give me an offense, for whatever reasons, I just don’t take it. Don’t you take it either. Choose to fill yourself with love, forgiveness, gratitude to God and your neighbor and flow with what God is in you. What He is in you is greater than anything that might want to harm you. Today is a good day to start. If someone offended you yesterday, call them today, do not keep a hole in your soul that hurts you more than the one who gave it to you. Enjoy grace and peace, they are the greatest gift from our creator.