“Forgive us for doing wrong, as we forgive others.”
(Matthew 6:12 – CEV)

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Afterwards, David’s conscience bothered him
because he had cut off the corner of Saul’s robe.
(I Samuel 24:5 – ISV version)

TRESPASSING CHRISTIANS WHO OFFEND
It is impossible for us to go through life without (in some way) offending someone. We can certainly have good motives and well-meaning intentions, but people can misread our motives and intentions and, as a result, become offended by us. We can overstep boundaries with people and either intentionally or unintentionally intrude into areas of their conscience that God deems unlawful (I Cor. 8:11-12, Rom. 14:1-3).

For the most part, Christians are not to intentionally trespass or violate another’s conscience, whether they are saved or unsaved. There certainly are exceptions to this rule. For example, Christians are to uphold biblical standards. The world opposes those biblical standards. So…there will always be opposition, directly or indirectly, between Christians adhering to their beliefs, and many non-Christians, who are often offended by Christians’ beliefs and their standards.

DAVID’S OFFENSE
David, the mighty warrior, during God’s acceptable time in history, slew thousands of His enemies. David certainly was an offense to those who opposed the nation of Israel! He seemed untouched by all the bloodshed because he fought under the banner of the Lord. And yet… It seemed to have affected David to his core that he had cut the garment of the sleeping king Saul (I Samuel 24:4). (This was a king who, in every way, tried to murder David.) It also seemed, at least to David’s men, that Saul deserved to die by the hand of David (vs. 4). What could be emphasized here is that “DAVID’S HEART SMOTE HIM” (vs. 5). Other translations state: “the CONSCIENCE of David was greatly affected” after his “garment trespass” and nearly going all the way by “touching the Lord’s anointed!” (vs. 6; I Samuel 26:8-9).

LISTEN TO CONSCIENCE
Sometimes we have to listen to our conscience when others are affected by something we have said or done…not always for our sake or for something we’ve done wrong, but because they were offended (I Cor. 10:27-29). Then there are times we come to realize we have trespassed against someone due to our negligence or insensitivity toward them. Whatever the case, let us pray daily that the Lord will forgive us of our sins against others, knowing what it is like when others have trespassed against us in so many ways, as well.