Are there offenses in your home?
How often do you get offended?
Does it matter to God?
Do offenses affect your spiritual life? Your communion with God? Your prayers?
Have offenses formed divisions and caused your heart to grow cold?
Have they affected God’s power in your life?
From the Greek definition we learn that offenses are…
- Stumbling blocks which cause us to trip and fall
- Hinderances which entice us into sin
- Annoyances that entangle us
- They make us indignant – feeling and showing anger
- They cause a falling away as we distrust and desert someone we ought to trust
- We feel displeasure and judge unfavorably and unjustly as we see what we disapprove of in another
We are instructed to lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. In our pursuit to glorify God in our lives, let’s not underestimate the power of offense and the poison of bitterness that often results.
It does matter. God can heal. Offense is something to overcome. We need a changed mind from repentance that turns our focus off ourselves and onto God for His glory.