Day 20 – Easily offended

“A brother offended is harder to win over than a fortified city, and contentions [separating families] are like the bars of a castle.” Proverbs 18:19

So somebody insulted us and now we become offended and wrathful, because how dare they?! Now the feeling comes that I want nothing more to do with this person, this is it, I am withdrawing and for the heck of it, I will take some others with me on this dark road and then we are surprised when we reap the fruit of this evil tree in ourselves being shunned and feeling rejected, just as we rejected another. Offence is an instant emotion and these are the most dangerous kind, because it calls for immediate reaction and immediate reaction gets us into trouble. Just as with anger and spite, a breath – a second – is all it takes to again remember that we do not have all the facts, that we are not sure of the real motivation and that in most cases, whatever happened was not even meant the way we perceived it! We have been given the Spirit of love, power and selfcontrol – let us make use of it often and with intent and give no place to the enemy.

Prayer: Messiah, one would wonder how we dare feel offended, when the One Who offended no one became the One most reviled, with the most reason to be offended and yet was not. Why, we would ask, Lord, and the answer is simple, offence serves no good purpose, but destroys and we, Lord, will no longer be instruments in the hands of evil to be used for destruction, but we will be makers of peace, inquisitive to ensure we have all the facts and base our reactions on Your commands and not our emotions. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

Written by Anna-Mart Nel for www.womenoftheword.co.za