About the Author

Simi was born in India and moved to Dallas, TX at the age of 7. Simi is a speaker, author, and full-time physical therapist. Her calling is to the local church and her passion is to equip women to know who they are and live faithfully right where they are....

(in)side DaySpring: things we love
& you will too!
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(in)side DaySpring:
things we love
& you will too!
Find more at
DaySpring.com
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  1. My Dad would tell us “you can’t be offended without your own permission”. That has made me aware of the illogic of offenses more in others who are offended than in my prideful choices to be offended. Your connecting the dots to Jesus’ response & rebellious empathy & mercy brings my dad’s advice more full circle for me. My dad was a very godly man & I’m sure he understood his advice thru the lens of Jesus yet I never put that together quite so directly until now. Wow! Thank you!

  2. Thank you for this! It’s so easy to miss opportunities to love like Jesus & react defensively. I like the way you used your practical work experience to make me think about my own “difficult” people in a positive way. Praying I will look to Jesus and choose differently next time I feel defensive!

  3. Thank you for writing this. I needed this today. For myself and for how I view others, and such a needed reminder to extend grace and remember what Jesus modeled with his life for us.

  4. Yes! I lost a group of 20 friends and eventually my whole church (being trespassed from their property) after a stroke. I moved 800 miles away, my life crumbled and I am still in the infant stages of recovery. Why? I had a mild stroke in 2016 and was deeply involved in a craft group through my church. My stamping friends decided to kick me out of the group, apparently believing I wouldn’t be able to maintain their standard anymore. I was devastated. I am single, never married, 60+ and these were close friends (or so I thought). So I pushed back. I wish I’d walked away but I was so hurt, and so medically fragile that I was unable to. And when I pushed back, they got nasty, even filing a police report when my I accidentally touched an audio Bible app one Sunday during worship. (It took 15 seconds to get it shut off, if that.) If I would have seen them as engaged in mass hysteria (which is what my therapist labeled it) I – perhaps, eventually – could have extended grace and just walked away. My pain was too great. I fell into a deep depression, even becoming suicidal. And that scared them. So they got nastier and nastier in their efforts to get me kicked out of the church. No pastor or elder cared enough to talk to me (that offended me too) and my life literally crumbled. A 30 year career in Christian radio ended. I got stuck and am still struggling, 5 years later. I don’t know HOW I couldn’t have been offended – but I wish I would have not had a knee jerk rejection and pushed back. (No threats or anything like that; just emails expression my intense pain that they would abandon me when I was so ill.) If I had waited 3 days before responding, I would have given them a very different kind of response. It would have been “Thanks for letting me know.” The pain would have been just as devastating but I would have healed. Even though I was treated with extreme indifference and cruelty, I wish I could have risen above the need to respond, extended them grace (they were motivated by unsubstantiated – but real – fear) and just walked away.

    • Beth, I’ve been in a similar situation. You are not alone. May God’s grace continue to heal us so that we can keep moving forward. Blessings!

      Simi, thank you so much for this incredible and thought-provoking post!

    • Beth I feel for you going through what you went through. You remember you are a Daughter of the king. That king is Jesus. It doesn’t matter what the Church or the people think of you. All that matters is what God thinks of you. You remember that. I was hurt by things in my life. I had to forgive. Like Jesus say in Ephesians 4 verse 32. And be Kind to one another Tenderhearted Forgiving one another even as God in Christ Forgave You. As if I had not. I not be the person walking for God the way he wants me too. What happened in my life hurt alot. I never forget it. But today if I not Forgiven. I could not speak to that person or persons who hurt me. By the things they done. I not forget what they done. But I can now move on. As I Forgave them all. Wity the help of Jesus and Prayer. Also I don’t have many friends. One set of the two sisters. Live 86 miles away from me. I hardly ever see them. But they do keep in touch with me. One of the sisters sent me the Father’s Love Letter. I read it and waped. As I didn’t think I was loved back then as much as I was by Our Heavenly Father. You get it on YouTube. Just type in the words the Father’s Love Letter. You believe every word of what it says Our Heavenly Father thinkd of us. As it true. You are loved and beautiful in God’s eyes. No matter what. You remember that. You have the best friend of all Jesus. Like the song too you get it on YouTube. It is what a Friend We Have In Jesus. All Our Sins and Griefs to Bear. What a privilege to carry everything to Jesus in Prayer. You remember that. Do listen to the Father’s Love Letter and that song What a Friend We Have In Jesus. You get both on YouTube. I will say a prayer for you. That the people who did this will repent. You can forgive them. Like Jesus if not done so. Pray for them. I pray for the people who hurt me. As they not saved. To see there needs of Jesus. I might not see you this side of earth. But I see you in Glory one day. There I give you a big hug. Love Dawn Ferguson-Little. Xx

    • Wow Beth! Thanks for your vulnerability. People will hurt us and we will hurt them…but God’s grace is enough to cover both and make the brokenness, beautiful again one day!

    • So hard. It is SO hard not to respond when we have been hurt so deeply. It is only Jesus’s example that restrains me – and even then, I find myself ‘pushing back’ at times when it would have been better not to. Our human response is to defend ourselves and try to gain justice for ourselves, but, again… JESUS. Only through his grace can we endure these hard times, and even then it feels so hurtful even when we know we have responded in the right way.

  5. Hi This was one of the Best
    Messages I have ever read!
    God Bless the Author & it
    Needs to be shared all over
    The World!
    Beth share your story when
    You can Jesus will heal your
    Heart ! Everyone wants to be
    Included! There is a song
    Called “Jesus included Me”.
    God Bless

  6. God truly used this devotion to speak directly to me today. Thank you for being obedient to His calling and passed on this message.

    • This was a good read for me this morning. I’ve been at physical therapy a year ago while recovering from an injury at work. They were kind and helpful.
      I was at a harvest festival orientation last evening and B was talking about being kind to people while we work. People come to the farm to have a good time with family. Kind to co-workers as well.
      We need to be kind daily just as we’ve been taught from church and reading the bible. God cares for us and in return we need to do the same thing. It helps people when they are not having a good day, working a long shift. I like being kind to cashiers as I’ve been one myself. Sometimes they get upset by other customers. Good outweighs the bad.
      Thanks for your encouragement Simi!!

  7. Simi John, you allowed God to work a miracle through you, with your gracious attitude and kind words to that patient! And you’ve given us expectant hope that, as we bypass offense and react with grace and kindness instead, we too just might witness a miracle! Thank you for sharing your example.

    • I truly believe the Holy Spirit gave me discernment in that moment to not react but respond with love. I hope and pray that I will be that sensitive in all my interactions!

  8. So hard. It is SO hard not to respond when we have been hurt so deeply. It is only Jesus’s example that restrains me – and even then, I find myself ‘pushing back’ at times when it would have been better not to. Our human response is to defend ourselves and try to gain justice for ourselves, but, again… JESUS. Only through his grace can we endure these hard times, and even then it feels so hurtful even when we know we have responded in the right way.

  9. Simi,

    I work in hospital (ICU step down clerical). There are patients whose attitude make it hard to love them. Realizing that they don’t want to be there or deal with their condition I put on love & kindness towards them. My nicely stern voice comes out a little when people continually ask for same thing over & over. Simply tell them that I’ve told the RN or the RN is busy with another patient right now. They will be in as soon as possible. Overall I do my best to shower the patients with as much of God’s love & grace as I can muster. Jesus did that for me. He graciously forgives me daily. I want to make a good impression on my patients & hep them heal up.

    Blessings 🙂

    • Yes! Sometimes we take it personal. But they are speaking harshly out of their pain and anxiety…and some ppl are truly rude…either way I try not to let them attitude determine my day. “Overcome evil with good!”

  10. What if the interaction with the patient had not turned out so well? Say, for instance, his behavior continued to be negative. I, personally, fear being hurt again by the same individual. When others have hurt me I don’t desire to open myself up to that same degree with that person. The hurt can be so deep because the person was a friend or a relative. I understand the need to be free of offenses, I also understand some people are toxic. I almost said how do I protect myself from these people. But the truth is how do I let God protect me from hurtful people. Yes, offenses will come. I’m afraid I’ve had more than enough for one lifetime.

    • Friend, I have been there. I thought humility meant to allow people to treat you poorly. But God’s Word never teaches us to stay and accept abuse. The heart of Christ is that we are in right relationships with others, sometimes that means having hard conversations and sometimes it means leaving toxic relationships. God sees the motives of our heart, so we call out sin with grace, and hold ppl accountable so they have an opportunity understand their sin and repent.

  11. This is beautifully written and needs to be shared across all forms of social media!!