19 March
Offences Will Come
For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it; but it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide and mine acquaintance, we took sweet counsel together, and walked into the house of God in company.
Psalm 55:12 to 14 (paraphrased)In Luke 17 Jesus spoke the following word to His disciples, "It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come." Jesus made it clear that offences will come — it is a certainty and something you cannot run away from or try to avoid. Psalm 55 shows us that David tried running away from the people that offended him. But then he discovered a solution better than the cowardly way ... he turned to God.
Here are valuable lessons you can learn on offences:
1. Do not offend others. If you are constantly in prayer and in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, He will girdle your mouth and He will help you to be a non-offender. And if you have offended somebody ... repent. And apologise to the offended person. Ask the Holy Spirit to continue revealing past offences or hurts that you have caused to other people and repent. And apologise to the person, as difficult as it may seem.
2. Do not get offended with God, with yourself and with others. An offence is a powerful Kingdom-destroyer. You can get offended with your leaders and never go back to church. Do not give Satan the opportunity to allow offences to settle in your heart.
3. If somebody does offend you, do not run from the offence and the person who caused the offence. Matthew 18:7 says that the person who has offended you will get their just reward. It is not your job, though, to reward them. Instead, remember that Jesus said that you must love and do good to them that hate you or speak evil of you. The best thing you can do is pray for the person, and bring reconciliation.