Wisdom – Week 5 | Repairing Relationships

When someone offends us, the first impulse is often to protect ourselves—by gossiping, recruiting allies, or quietly savoring their stumble. This message names that exact tension: the ways ill will hides (and sometimes feels righteous), how third-party talk and a posture of superiority deepen the wound, and why the “cover-up” usually does more damage than the original hurt. The sermon leans on practical wisdom from Proverbs and a powerful example of forgiveness to invite a different way: speak directly, resist triangulation, and let love—often given to us first—reshape our response. It doesn’t promise easy fixes, but it offers a clear direction and small, sacrificial practices that make repair possible. Listen for what it means to receive forgiveness before you can give it, and how that single shift can start to heal even the most tangled relationships.