We live in a day and age where it’s so very easy for us to feel offended by what others say and do. Someone may look at us funny, and we feel offended, or someone may speak to us in a certain tone that rubs us the wrong the way, or maybe someone on social media offended us with their absurd opinions.
Sometimes, we may even find ourselves reading into things that aren’t even there, because we make assumptions, and informal judgements without having all of the facts. Then, there are times where some people go out of their way to deliberately hurt others, through what they say and do. They make a point of making you feel like you’re not welcome, like you are not good enough, or that they do not like you. Some people may treat you poorly on purpose due to their insecurities, and it ends up eating away at you. So much so, that it builds and turns into resentment and anger.
On the other hand sometimes people may say or do things that hurt us without ever knowing because maybe it was never their intention for us to feel hurt. However, we walk around carrying an offense, and it ends up eating away at us, and crushes us in spirit.
Choose to let go of your offence
I know for me personally there have been times where someone would offend me by either something that they had said or had done, whether it was their intention or not – I chose to hold onto the offense in my heart. Which made me feel really down and miserable all of the time, as I would constantly relive the offense, and replay it over and over again in my mind. Instead of letting it go and moving forward, I held onto it and relived it. It was emotional torture!
When we choose to hold onto our offense, we remain chained to our offender and to the offense. However, the simple truth is that we have a choice to either hold onto any offenses, or we can let it go, forgive and moved forward. It sounds doable, it may even look easy on paper, but to put it into practice is a whole other story on its own.
God graces us to forgive the offender
I used to struggle a lot with the letting go of offenses, whether small or big, I just did not know how to let it go, and move forward. I had to get to a place in my life where I surrendered all of my cares and concerns to God, and let Him grace me as I chose to forgive my offender and the offense. This is something that I am conscious of doing every time I may feel overly sensitive, or feel offended by something or someone. Instead of choosing to remain offended, I choose to take a deep breath, go to God about it, and ask Him to heal my heart and to help me to let the offense go and to forgive those that may have hurt me.
Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense. – Proverbs 19:11
Before letting offense root itself into your heart, take a step back for a moment and chat to God about it. Ask Him to give you the grace and courage to forgive and to move forward. Do not let any hurt, un-forgiveness and offense cause you to live a life filled with bitterness, resentment and emotional torture. God has more in store for you, let Him carry and grace you to move forward into a life of wholeness and fullness!