DEALING WITH OFFENSES

DEALING WITH OFFENSES“

An offended brother is more [resistant]than a strong city, and disputes are like the locked gate of a castle tower.” ( Proverbs 18:19 GWT )
And herein do I exercise myself, to have always a conscience void to offense toward God, and toward men.” ( Acts 24:16 KJV )
“That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.” ( Philippians 1:10 )
Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offenses will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come!” ( Luke 17:1 )

As we can see in these verses, we might as well brace up ourselves for offenses and learn how to deal with them, because they will come our way.

Definition of offense
Let me first define the word ‘offense’. In the Hebrew, it means; obstacle, enticement, stumbling block, etc. In the Greek, it also means,; a trap stick, a snare, a cause of displeasure or sin, or a occasion to fall.
It is a wounding of the feelings, annoyance or resentment caused by some ones actions or words.

Jesus Christ a rock of offense to many.
“He will be a sanctuary, but a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense to both the houses of Israel, as a trap and a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And many among them shall stumble; they shall fall and be broken, be snared and taken.” (Isa.8:14, 15).

Do you know how many are offended in Jesus today?
Many are disappointed in Him and a lot of things that seem inexplicable are blamed on Him. And we are not only talking about unbelievers, but sad to say, believers too!

1-People were also offended at the teachings of Jesus. (John.6:48-68).
2-People were offended at Jesus in His home town because they knew Him too well in the natural to accept his claim to divinity. (Matt.13:54-57).
3-The cross of Christ was also an offense to people. (Galatians 5:11).
4-Some folks also are offended when tribulation and persecution arise because of the Word. (Matthew13:21).
5-Jesus warned His disciples on the night of His arrest, that they would all be made to stumble because of Him. ( Matthew 26:31)

We are going to have to come to realize that just by being a follower of Jesus will cause others to become offended by us. This is so hard to deal with when it is your own family that is offended.

The opportunity for us of becoming offended
We are presented with many opportunities to get offended each and every day. We will need to keep short accounts with ourselves to make sure that we have not gotten offended . For me Communion is a great time to do an inventory of my own heart to make sure that I am free of any kind of offenses.

Prayer is an essential element to keep these offenses from rooting in our lives.
The Holy Spirit is a help in our lives and will show us if any offenses are taking up residence in us.

Know the Devil will present to us a variety of things to temp us down this path.
Some one disappoints us,
some one breaks a promise to us,
some one neglects to do something for us,
the list goes on and on.....

We will have to deal with this every day of our lives, and exercise of conscience to be void of offense by constantly being in prayer. Instead of becoming offended and getting ticked off, just begin to pray for the offender. I have found it very difficult to stay offended by some one I am praying for.

We were all an offense to God because of our sin condition before Jesus took our offenses and sin upon himself and the blood cleansed us from all unrighteousness.

Prayer
Father God help us to have hearts of forgiveness toward others,
that we will not hold offenses toward any one.
We need your grace and help to live lives void of offenses.
In Jesus name amen