Good friends are considerate

"He who covers an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends" Proverbs 17:9 Be considerate. We accept our friends with their warts and all. We don't drop them, or kick them out because they make mistakes. We don't cut them off because of their irritable ways. I'm sure some of the things I do or say irritate others. No, hope we don't cut our friends off because of their irritable ways. Each of us has his or her own peculiarities and weaknesses. We all come from different cultures and backgrounds. So let's learn to accept one another in the name of Christ.

When someone has made a mistake, a considerate friend will not say, "I told you so' or "serve you right" or "I knew that would happen." A true friend does not rub it in, but rubs it out. When you make a mistake, true friends don't make a deal out of it. He does not call attention to it. Don't spread rumours. A rumouor without a leg to stand on can get around very quickly and cause a lot of damage. Good friends are good forgetters!

Let's practise acceptance. Being considerate means treating the other person as you would like to be treated. We do not know what the other person is going through. We may not know all the circumstances.

Two things as Christians we need to practise - forgiveness and acceptance. Forgiveness is a subject we find it easy to talk about, teach or discuss but difficult when you have someone to forgive! Isn't it true? True forgiveness only occurs when we we treat the subject as a closed matter. True, we can forgive, but it is not always easy to forget.There is no need to dredge up old quarrels or misunderstanding. If we do we have not exercised forgiveness. To have a grudge is to have a wall between ourselves and another. Forgiveness is breaking down walls and building bridges.

Let's practise acceptance and we look to Christ our Lord for the perfect example.At the cross He prayed for His enemies, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."