Are You Offended?

Jesus told us in Matthew 18:7-“Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! “It never ceases to amaze me, the way our enemy, Satan, uses our offenses and our subsequent hurt feelings to conquer marriages, relationships, churches — even entire nations! Many of us are not careful enough about the things we say and more importantly, we get offended way too easily. It’s like an analogy I sometimes use to describe what happens when we get offended. If you are holding a baby and his little arm swats you in the face, would you take offense to that? Of course not! We know the little guy didn’t intend to hurt us. We respond with a sigh or laughter or something to that effect. But if it is a friend, a family member or a brother or sister in the church who offends us with a little swat of his words or actions, we are undone. We expect more from them! What hypocrisy! We become angry and we want to defend ourselves, fight back or leave forever.
Jesus said NO! He said that even if someone despitefully uses us, that means on purpose, that we are to respond in love! Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:44-“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.” We as human beings are troubled and sinful. We are not perfect and we should never expect others to be, no matter what their positions are in the church. God is perfect and He is the one from whom our expectations should come — no man. Am I talking to you today? We are all guilty of this one way or another. Let’s give our offenses to the Lord. Allow Him wash over us today. Allow Him Heal us. Get us back to where we need to be. The Lord told us in Matthew 6:14-15-“For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Don’t let offenses rob you of God’s blessing and victory in your life. You can be free from offenses.