2 Kings 18:14
“And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.”
Hezekiah was a good man and certainly a great king in Israel’s history; however, great men can do things that offend others. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, you are going to do something that will offend others. The fact that we must deal with other sinful humans tells us that we are not going to always get along with people.
In the verse above, Hezekiah felt that he had offended the king of Assyria. Hezekiah had a tender heart, and he felt that the reason this king sent his army to Judah was because some offense had happened. Though this was not really the case, I find how Hezekiah handled trying to right the offense is a good lesson on what you should do when you have offended someone.
First, take responsibility for what you did. Hezekiah said, “I have offended.” He didn’t get into the finger pointing business with the king of Assyria, but he looked at himself and took complete responsibility for his own actions. The best way you can handle offenses is to look at what you did wrong. Don’t be concerned with their actions and what they ought to do, you are the one whom you can control. You will never settle an offense between you and someone else until you take full responsibility for what you have done.
Second, get the offense right by restoring what you wronged. Hezekiah tried to pay the king of Assyria back. He thought this would settle the offense. When you have offended someone, then apparently they felt that you took something from them or did something to them that was not right. You should do everything in your power to right that wrong. Figure out a way to correct the offense. If you took something you should not have taken, then find a way to restore it. If you did something to them that hurt them, then find a way to make it right.
Third, don’t sacrifice truth to get it right. The one mistake Hezekiah made was that he used the silver and the treasures in the house of the LORD to try and right his wrong. Never sacrifice truth to get something right. Always remember that you don’t get right by doing wrong. You get right by doing right. If the only way they feel you can get right with them is by sacrificing truth, then you must always stand with truth.
Fourth, don’t expect them to get over it. You find in the story of Hezekiah that the king of Assyria did not accept Hezekiah’s attempt to right the offense. Just because you want to get right doesn’t mean the other party will accept it. You must accept the fact that they may hold a grudge against you for a long time, and even for the rest of their life. Don’t let that stop you from being right towards them. Their actions should not dictate yours. They have to deal with God, and your desire should be to make sure you are right with God and others.
Offenses are going to come in life. These four steps will help you to right the offenses with others, and to also right them in your own heart. You must live with yourself, and if you do what you’re supposed to do to get right, then you can have peace in our heart that you have done what is required to get right.