Are you unjustly suffering for something you didn’t do? Perhaps you’ve recently been wrongfully accused or punished for someone else’s mistakes.

The reality is, everyone on the planet has suffered unjustly. But that doesn’t make it feel any better.

My first big experience with being wrongfully accused also happened to be the first and only time I ever got my name in a national financial journal. Not the mention I was hoping for!

They raked me over the coals by saying that I had overpaid for a piece of property. I hadn’t. I actually got a very good deal — about half of market value. But because they were calculating the price per acre instead of the price per leasable square foot under a planned development permit, they got it wrong.

A friend was adamant that I needed to defend my reputation and set the record straight. I prayed about it but, for practical reasons, decided to let it go. Yes, my ego was bruised, but every hour we spend managing what other people think is an hour we can’t spend pursuing what God has given us to do.

That experience became the beginning of a simple, Scripture-based philosophy I still try to live by when I face unjust suffering: D.S.A.R.T.

I’m not going to …

D: Defend myself

S: Try to set the record straight

A: Adjudicate the past

R: Retaliate

T: Make threats

First Peter 2:19-23 (NIV) begins: “For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God.”

That single verse is enough to convince me.

The passage continues: “But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.”

Then comes this inspiring exhortation: “To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.”

That’s the heart of D.S.A.R.T.

Then Peter shifts from what Jesus didn’t do to what He did do: “Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Jesus didn’t entrust His reputation to public opinion. He entrusted Himself to the Father.

That’s pretty good advice for all of us. Where do you need to D.S.A.R.T.?

Your friend always,

Pat

For Reflection and Discussion

• Heart (Reflect): When have you been misunderstood, falsely accused, or treated unfairly? Which part of D.S.A.R.T. is hardest for you to practice?
• Head (Understand): According to 1 Peter 2:19-23, why is enduring unjust suffering commendable before God, and what does Jesus’ example teach us about responding to it?
• Hands (Apply): Is there a situation right now where you need to stop defending yourself, retaliating, or trying to set the record straight, and instead entrust yourself to the One who judges justly? What would that look like this week?