Silent Treatment


Overheard in the office last week was: “She’s not speaking to me…I don’t know why she is mad at me.” Both women are church attendees, which makes it even worse in my opinion. How does it look to the outside world if Christians can’t get along with one another? I have never understood why two people would stop talking to each other. If you have a problem with someone, can’t you just work it out? 

If someone were to stop talking to me, I would at least make an effort to see if I had done something to cause them harm or to upset them and then try to make amends. And I don’t think I have ever gotten mad enough at someone to keep me silent for more than a few minutes. 

Maybe it comes from my grandfather teaching his granddaughters that we were not to let the sun go down on our anger (Ephesians 4:26).

While walking down the office corridor after hearing the comment, I began wondering what it would be like if God acted that way towards us.  It might look something like this:
  • If we missed our quiet time—2 days of silence
  • If we didn’t thank Him before our meals—2 hours of silence per meal
  • If we didn’t acknowledge the things He does for us each day—1 day of silence for each occurrence
  • If we were not obedient to His directions for our life—1 week of silence

I think you get the picture, but aren’t you glad that our God does not act that way. He is always ready and waiting for us to come to Him. In fact He gets great pleasure from spending time with us. Even if we have been neglect in our behavior toward Him, He has His arms wide open in expectation of our return. 

We are called to be like Him, so shouldn’t we forgive and forget when others hurt our feelings? Shouldn’t we try to work things out so that we can live in peace and harmony? How hard is it to take the first step in making the right decision? 

If this is an area that is difficult for you, just remember how God treats you with kindness and strive to be like Him. In addition to that, ask God to help you to be able to let go of hurt feelings and move on with your life instead of being stuck in the past. He will be faithful in helping you if you truly want to change.

Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

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