I know the Bible says that if our brother sins against us, we are to forgive him.

“So watch yourselves. If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him; and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, and says, I repent,' you must forgive him."

[Of course, the apostles were aghast. Who among them had that much faith?] Luke 17:3-6

I agree with the apostles. I’ve always had a problem with the patient and forgiving thing.  But if you look closely at these verses you see that there are at least two “if statements.” If he sins, if he repents, then you forgive him. But what if he doesn’t repent? What if someone professing to be your friend continually uses words that he or she knows are offensive to you, what should you do? Get mad? That’s what I used to do. Now I just hang up the phone. If I have told this friend on numerous occasions that by using those words he or she was hurting me and disrespecting me, and he or she continues to use those words anyway, how many times should I sit back and smile placidly as if it doesn’t bother me? As I said, I’ve never been very good at the patient and forgiving thing.

I really don’t know how I could be any clearer about this. My belief in God is the core value in my life. I believe in God. I believe Jesus is who He said He is. I believe that God is good, all the time. I believe my God can kick your god’s butt. And my faith is not in man but in the Creator of the Universe. Sound crazy? You betcha. After all, half the world thought Jesus was a schizophrenic nutcase.

The end of the story is this: Jesus answered the apostles, saying, "If you had faith as a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this sycamore tree: ‘Be rooted up, and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.”

Again I say, who among us has that much faith?

It all comes down to a matter of respect, the respect of one human being for another. The commandment was to "love one another," but it's so easy for me to find fault instead. It's not "holier than thou" for me to admit I am a Christian—it's a public "out-of-the-closet" admission. It doesn't make me good, it doesn't mean I'm better than anyone else because I'm not on either account, it just means it's a part of who I am. Can you respect that?