I wanted to give a few pointers on how to make sure to turn an offense of some kind into full-blown sin when someone offends you. Of course, I am typing this tongue in cheek, but how many times do we follow the rules below to make a situation even worse?
- Find 3 people that agree with you and disagree with the other person.
It is VERY important to only tell your side of the story and not take responsibility for your side of the situation. Pulling people to your side is critical to insulating yourself from correction and making sure to discredit the other person. - Concentrate on the offense as long as humanly possible.
Make sure to let an offense fester in your mind and interfere with your prayer life and even let it change your personality. Making sure that others know you are mad at someone secures them feeling bad for you and hating the person in the altercation.
- ALERT: Stay FAR away from people will be honest with you and help you let go of what offended you.
This is a KEY because others can help bring a sense of calm and levelheadedness that you DO NOT need when you are trying to stay mad at someone.
- Forget how many times Jesus forgave you when you did something to Him that would be considered an offense.
Forgetting about your own shortcomings can definitely help to strengthen the length of time you can stay hateful and really feel like you are “getting them back” because of your anger.
The sad thing is that there is truth folded into the four points above when we get offended. I have a news flash for all of us; as long as we are breathing and walking on this earth we will be offended in life. So the question is not IF we will be offended but WHEN and how we will deal with those situations.
When someone offends us the FIRST thing we need to do is guard/watch our tongue and the people we try and pull into our painful situations. There is nothing good that can come from talking bad about someone else, no matter what the situation.
Our mind is where the devil wants to play and keep us distracted from working through painful situations and releasing them to God. A true sign of spiritual growth is turning over a destructive thought more quickly than before.
There is a power in the verse in Proverbs 27:17 about iron sharpening iron. When we put ourselves around people who we trust to be honest and give us Godly perspective in life we put ourselves in a place of growth in life and not destruction.
Remembering what we have been forgiven of with Jesus can be the very best way to release forgiveness to others. There is nothing worse than accepting forgiveness from Jesus and not releasing that same forgiveness to others that offend us. I am not saying there will be no process of releasing things to God, but when we keep our perspective on life and interaction with each other, we can work through pain and not let it keep us from growth in many areas of life.
Praying for you today!
Holy Crap 