How Tolerant Are You?

Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. - Matthew 18:21-22

People that surround us have significant effects on our lives. Either good influences or bad, they all have ways of making us better when we look at the brighter side of things. A person who is cruel to you is directly or indirectly helping you to build capacity for managing oppositions and confrontations. On the other hand, a person who is so nice and kind to you helps you to appreciate life and people, and also helps you to have a positive attitude towards others. However, no matter how nice a person may be, there is still a tendency that offenses will come in between you both. How you mange this condition matters a lot to your life.

How sensitive are you to offenses? How easily do you get pissed at people when you're offended? How do you respond to an offense against you?

While some people easily brush off memories of offensive statements or actions against them, some people prefer to dwell on it for long generating hatred and thoughts of vengeance. Disagreements and quarells are rather important building blocks of a relationship. They help you draw the line between what your partner accepts as good or bad, and know how to dwell more on the good and do away with the bad. In this case, a level of tolerance is needed to deal with people, because no one is perfect - incapable of offending you.

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In this reference scripture, Peter needed to know how much tolerance he needs in relating with his neighbours and people around him. He probably thought he was being generous by accepting to forgive wrongs seven times. The response of Jesus however is more humbling. It simply means try to forgive all wrongs because it is almost impossible for one man to offend you 490 times, while you are taking record of each one. Even if someone is capable of offending you that much, you must have lost count of it along the line. So when you're sure it is up to 490 times, you may decide not to forgive anymore.

Beyond offenses, no two individuals are trained the same way, so there is always going to be a difference between your way of life and that of a friend from another family. There's also a level of tolerance needed to deal peacefully with that person, making the differences a source of strength, rather than weakness to the relationship.