The Benefit of the Doubt

I’ve been around some shady people and, as a result, at times have been terrifically frightened. I’ve since carried in my flesh a baseline suspicion of others, including persistent doubts that people, overall, are doing the right thing and acting honorably with integrity. When I was younger, I was much less likely to give someone the benefit of the doubt. Little did I know that I was injuring my own happiness.

Giving others the benefit of the doubt has a fantastic return on investment. 

Granted, it’s unnatural to do that with some people. Maybe the person you’re thinking about has burned you so many times, they’ve earned your hyper-suspicion. But the point of this blog is what this persistent, eroding type of fear does to you! Let’s not even think about the other person, only ourselves for the moment.

Have you been hurt by someone recently? If it’s someone you care about, there’s often a lingering anguish regarding the other person’s intentions. But, let’s be honest, many times people hurt us without even knowing it. So, any lost sleep you’ve suffered was probably over nothing. That’s easy to understand; however, the higher order goal here is to understand what it means to your overall happiness if your offender really was trying to hurt you and yet you still manage to give them the benefit of the doubt.

In both cases, whether or not the person was intentionally causing you pain, you only suffer once if you grant them the benefit of the doubt, but you suffer twice if you don’t. Give that some thought – there are four different cases to consider. 

Once you’re finished doing so, meditate on the following beautiful, heartfelt verses too! They will help you to live a transcendent life where you are able to leave those nagging, unfruitful suspicions behind.

Giving someone the benefit of the doubt as a way of life often begins with forgiving the people in your life of their past wrongdoings. This will have a ripple effect in your life, as forgiveness is freedom. Godly freedom enables you to be free from all malice, anger, doubts, and so on.

Compare the life of the unforgiving to the one who lives a life of forgiveness. What do you see? Among many other awful issues, I see the unforgiving person in bondage to doubt, especially regarding others. I see a tormented and hyper-suspicious person. However, in the forgiving person, I see freedom and happiness.

It's the person free from the bondage of the flesh who’s able to give others the benefit of the doubt. 

If someone hurts you, give them the benefit of the doubt. Once the initial suffering ends, the pain is over. If you don’t, you suffer twice, and the second pain often cuts deeper and persists much longer.

Love in Christ,

Ed Collins