Refuse to Get Offended

Our culture lets a lot of things slide. Culture tells us, “Hey, premarital sex is ok.” Or, “It’s ok to do drugs.” The church tells you differently (at least, it should). The church preaches that premarital sex is wrong. That it defiles your body, which is the temple of the Holy Ghost. Same with drugs. However, one of the biggest things in the Bible, that the Church doesn’t deal with, as a whole, is the trap of offense.

Now, you may be thinking, “Oh, it’s not a big deal to get offended.” Or, “I had every right to tell that person off.” In the natural, you may be right. However, Jesus holds us to a higher standard. (So high that He said Hating someone is the same as murdering them) In Matthew 13:20-21, talking about the parable of the sower, He says, “20 But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and immediately with joy receiveth it; 21 Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.” (KJV, emphasis mine) So, Jesus here is telling us that offense will rob us of God’s Word, and its ability to bear fruit. That is a very interesting idea. If we get offended, the Word dies on the inside of us, and is of no use to us. This is what Paul wrote about when he spoke on love in 1 Corinthians 13:5, 7, “[Love] is not provoked...7 [love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” So, Paul, by the Holy Spirit, is telling us that we are to love one another, with the God kind of love. This love does not get easily upset. “So, you mean to tell me that I can’t get upset when someone cuts me off on the highway?” You can, but, it’s not God’s way. He wants you to bless them, and just move on. There is nothing you can do to change it anyway, so, why even bother getting out of the will of God?

“But,” someone may say, “So-and-so did me wrong. I need to go tell people everything about it so they can empathize with me, and feel what I am feeling. They had no right to do what they did.” Well, that may be so. But what gives you the right to act in a manner not consistent with the love of God? You see, when you get out of love, you are robbing yourself of God’s best for your life, and when you do that, you are causing the Word to not bear fruit. In essence, you are creating a “crop failure” for the Word.

So, when life comes at you, and you are tempted to get offended, refuse it. Do not take the thought. Say what God says about the person. If you do not get offended, you keep the wall of God’s Blessing intact around you, so that it can protect you from harm. This Blessing wall is the wall that enables you to walk free from sickness, poverty, depression, lack, and anything that hinders you from achieving what God has set up for you.

So, refuse to be offended, even for an instant. Avoid this pitfall, and watch the breakthrough come!