11/14/2021: Missing Peace: Week 2
Help These People Are Driving Me Crazy
Part of Missing Peace
November 14, 2021

TEACHING NOTES

Do you know someone who is difficult to LOVE?

Being offended is Inevitable.
Living offended is a Choice.

Jesus didn’t say the world would know us by how correct we are. He said they would know us by how loving we are.

To be loving, we need to stop listening to respond and start listening to understand. Start with Grace and lead towards Truth.

Your life is too short and your calling too great to be offended by something small.

Love doesn’t seek to win the argument. Love seeks to protect the relationship.

The assignment is tough and cannot be done on your own. You need help from the one who provides us peace…. Relational peace, Jesus Christ.

TALK IT OVER

INTRODUCTION
It is easy to love those around us who we like; who have treated us kindly and graciously? But what about those who drive us crazy, or worse, who have offended or hurt us. Allow God to work in your heart and mind this week to allow forgiveness and healing to restore broken relationships. Relational peace can only be done with Christ inside us.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. What’s your biggest pet peeve when it comes to other people?

  1. Have you ever gone through a time when it felt like you were on a search to be offended? What was that season like?

  2. Being offended is inevitable but living offended is a choice. How would your relationships change if you more quickly let go of the offenses you experience?

  3. Read Ephesians 4:2. What would making allowances for the faults of others look like?

  4. Are there any offenses you’re having trouble letting go of? Why is letting go of those offenses so difficult?

MOVING FORWARD
How do we love the people who are hard to love? By laying down your life; your natural responses, your selfish desires. So that Christ can love others through us. By making the conscious decision to forgive in real time and let go of offenses. As far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Ask God to show you any offenses you might be carrying. If an offense comes to mind, take steps to let it go.

CHANGING YOUR MIND

A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense
—Proverbs 19:11 (NIV)