The Inevitability of Offense

If you're going to live in this world, one thing you can expect to experience is to be offended. It would be great if we could live in a world where nobody offends us, nobody ever hurts our feelings, nobody ever insults us, this would be great. But it's not reality. At some point in our lives, eventually and inevitably, somebody is going to offend us. As Christians, we need to be prepared for how to deal with this, because if we're not, it can result in dire consequences in our relationship with God. We need to be prepared for the Inevitability of offense.

When somebody hurts you, when somebody offends you, when somebody makes you mad, how do you handle it? Sometimes people offend us or hurt us and they're not even aware that they did anything to us. When you experience that sting in your soul that somebody has done you wrong or not responded to you or treated you in the way you expect or prefer, the first thing you need to do is forgive. That's the first thing you need to do, forgive. 

The reason this response to offense is so significant is because it keeps your salvation in tact. Jesus makes it clear that if we don't forgive others, the Father will not forgive us (Matthew 6). Is it worth going to hell because somebody walked by you and didn't say hello, or didn't let you in the driving lane? I know these examples sound trivial, but you'd be surprised how much energy people are consuming over trivial things like these because of the level of offense they feel when it happens to them. If you fit this description, you may have a deeper issue, more than you realize.

Forgiveness is the key to the Inevitability of offense. What is forgiveness? Forgiveness is the release of a debt. So if I owe you $20, if you "forgive" my debt, it means you're saying to me, I no longer owe you that $20. The debt has been forgiven. This is what God has done for us. Our debt of sin, what we owe God for the price of our disobedience and transgressions, has been forgiven and released because of the Blood of His Son Jesus. The Father expects us to do the same. When offense comes, and it will, He expects us to release that debt because He has released us from ours. It doesn't mean you don't acknowledge that you were wronged or that you were hurt, but you don't hold on to it, you let it go. So many people, including Christians, are suffering all types of physical ailments and disease in large part because they've been holding on to grudges and bitterness for decades. This is not the will of God.

The next time somebody "ticks you off," the next time somebody "dogs you out", the next time somebody hurts your feelings, intentionally or unintentionally, the next time somebody mistreats you or disrespects you, let it go. Forgive them. Don't hold on to that bitterness. Don't hold on to that resentment. Don't hold on to that hurt. Give that pain and hurt to God, and allow His Holy Spirit to heal the pain of your heart and soul. This is the Divine Will of God for us as His children. It is the best and only way to deal with the Inevitability of offense.