Matthew 11:6 “And blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) is he who takes no offense at Me and finds no cause for stumbling in or through Me and is not hindered from seeing the Truth.”
There are many evil spirits in the world, and the spirit of offense is one of the most subtle. Being offended feels so good, so RIGHT!
“After all, those people who hurt me REALLY don’t understand anything; if they did, they would think the same way that I do. Obviously, they must be lesser human beings if they are that dense.”
It is no accident that suddenly all kinds of offended people are coming out of the woodwork. Resentments that have been cherished for years are being dumped on all and sundry, sometimes with disastrous results.
It is a well – known fact that Coca Cola contains so much acid that you can use it to clean the terminals on your car battery. For years, dentists have warned us about the dangers to our teeth from carbonated beverages. But Coca Cola still sells millions of bottles each day. Cherishing hurts and resentments is similar to collecting as much acid as possible; the more you collect, the more it hurts you and damages you inside.
What is the answer? How does one become un – offendable? Only by the grace of God can we change. We must start by forgiving people, even when we feel they do not deserve it. (One good question: How many times have we hurt others without realizing it? Don’t we want to be forgiven?)
1 Corinthians 13:5 – 6 says that “Love(God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self – seeking ; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it[it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rehjoices when right and truth prevail.”
Notice the mention of a SUFFERED WRONG. We are not asked to lie to ourselves. Sometimes people are asked to “forgive and forget,” and when they cannot forget, they fear that they have failed to forgive.
C.S. Lewis had a very rocky relationship with his father and struggled many times to forgive him. Finally Lewis decided that he would consciously forgive his father; he would not forget the hurts, but also he would not rehearse them. Each time Lewis was tempted to remember something hurtful his father had done, he would forgive that hurt. After some time, Lewis realized that while he could remember his father’s actions, the memories were no longer painful and he felt reconciled to his father.
Today, search your heart. Are you judging others? Are you allowing yourself to take offense at every little thing that is said to you with which you do not agree? Ask God to deliver you from the spirit of offense. And the next time Satan tries to remind you how much you have been hurt, tell him that God has taken care of it.
PRAYER: Father God, help us forgive! Without your Grace, we can do nothing. We thank you that you are merciful and that you graciously forgive us repeatedly. We confess that we are sinners and that it is only because Jesus sacrificed His life for us on Calvary that we can be forgiven. Thank you for the cross! Thank you for redemption! And thank you for eternal life. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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