Becoming offended and nursing a grudge is one of the worst things for your physical and mental health. Let us learn how to overcome offense biblically, and what the Christ and Bible have to say about overcoming offense.
You can get offended by any people surrounding you. They may be known faces like your friends and family members or can be strangers. But suppose you hold the offense in your heart for a long time.
In that case, you are not only hampering the relationship with that particular person but also it can make you physically and emotionally down. So, how to overcome offense Biblically? You should forgive the person who has done wrong to you and leave everything to God.
The article discusses various ways to overcome offense biblically. So, keep on reading the article for more information.
What Does Having A Spirit Of Offence Mean?
Having the spirit of offense means getting angry, irritated, or taking a grudge against someone who has offended you. The people may offend you intentionally, or you may feel offended because of misinterpretation.
There are numerous reasons you can offend people around you or get offended by other people. The people can be your friends, relatives or strangers. For instance, you may expect your husband to keep the trash can outside before going to the office, but suppose he doesn’t take it seriously and thinks he can do it later.
When he comes home, you ask about the trash can, and when he says he forgot about it, you may have a strong argument. The argument may make you feel offended, but the expectation that you had will not get fulfilled.
Taking offense is not an issue in itself. It can be an issue when you start nursing your offense. Sometimes it becomes so severe that it hinders your ability to think properly. Your mind always remains disturbed, due to which you cannot connect with God.
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What Are The Reasons For Spirit Of Offence?
Many factors can make you feel offended. It’s not possible to list all the factors. I am listing below four essential factors that offend the majority of people.
#1. Unrealistic Expectations
Unrealistic expectations can hamper any relationship. You don’t need to agree and fulfill all your partner’s expectations. But you should allow your partner to express and understand what they want. You may also have some expectations. Don’t try to keep within yourself. Express it in front of your partner.
#2. Holding On To Things For Too Long
If you are offended by your friends and relatives, and you try to hold it for long, it will affect your physical and mental health. You should allow certain things to let go. Realize the truth that these minor things can never dampen your holy connection with the Lord, and only then will you be able to achieve peace with yourself.
#3. Assume Negative Intention
Sometimes a person doesn’t hurt you. But you think that he has hurt or insulted you badly. These assumptions or misinterpretations can impact your emotional well-being.
#4.Your Wounded Spirit
Sometimes you experience the hurt or insult at the deepest level, which can be the reason for the spirit of offense.
How Did Jesus Forgive And Overcome Hurt?
Jesus Christ loves to forgive and says that you should always forgive people as many times as they commit an offense. If you are an excellent forgiver, then there is significantly less chance of developing a spirit of offense. You should be polite and gentle with people.
Our Lord Jesus Christ had never kept a grudge against anyone for hurting him. He had also never taken any revenge nor sinned any people. He left the case in the hands of the Almighty. Similarly, when someone hurts you, try to forgive the person who has hurt you. You don’t need to retaliate for being insulted and should leave everything to God.
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What Does Bible Say About Being Offended?
Whenever you hold offense in your heart for a long time, you become stubborn, which hampers your relationship with the people surrounding you. Again you become so disturbed that you cannot connect with the Almighty. If you don’t treat the offense, it can affect your health badly.
Let’s look at the life of Christ. Our Lord Christ was mocked, insulted, beaten, and finally killed by people. He had never done any wrong thing in his life, but still, he had to sacrifice his life. Despite being offended numerous times, he did not hold any bitterness in his heart and left everything to God. He left the world still feeling love for his beloved brothers
A priest once said that your response is your responsibility. We are the servants of our Lord Jesus Christ. We can never blame others for our actions and response, even if the situation is challenging.
How To Overcome Spirit Of Offense?
Have you ever been offended or insulted by your friends, relatives, family members, and strangers? If yes, it will affect you physically, mentally, and emotionally when you choose to think continuously about the insult. I am discussing below a few ways to overcome the spirit of offense.
#1.Realize When You Are Hurt
The first thing to overcome the spirit of offense is to realize when someone hurts you. For instance, if you had gone to a shop and someone insulted you, then it might have disturbed you for some time. But then you forget all about it. Only later, when your husband asks about your day, you recognize the insult, which makes you upset.
I want to give you another example. Suppose you and your husband have an argument, and you think it is over but later realize that it is still troubling you. So remember, offenses become more robust with time if you make a big deal out of dealing with them.
#2. You Should Speak About Your Offense Only To Almighty
When someone hurts us, we first discuss it with someone else. But by doing such things, we are hurting or offending them indirectly as well, which does not make any sense.
I am not telling you to never share your frustrations, anger, or reason behind getting offended to your family members and friends. You can express all your feeling but only after sharing them with God. The Almighty loves you and will surely help you in healing your emotions.
#3. You Should Forgive The Other Person
It is the most challenging step which you need to follow. You need to forgive the other person even if he has done very bad to you.
But it’s not necessary to go to a particular person to forgive. But if it is possible, then you can try. For instance, if your family members, friends, or relatives have offended you, then go to them and speak with them politely. You need to be sensible and control your anger as much as possible.
There may be some people you don’t know personally, but they have offended you. For instance, if you had gone to any shop and someone passed you nasty comment, then you have to meet the person personally. But you need to forgive that person on your mind.
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#4. Request God To Reveal Any Unsolved Problems In Your Heart
Sometimes you get offended not by a particular person or an incident. It is within your heart that you may feel offended. For instance, you scroll down your social media like Facebook and Instagram, and check the comments. You can see a comment which can make you feel offended.
So you need to ask yourself, can I easily be offended? If yes, then you should find time to ask God the reason for getting offended easily. The best time to talk to God is early morning. You need to do meditation and speak to God about the reasons for getting easily offended and its solution.
#5. Pray To God To Protect You From Any Other Future Offense Attacks
You should pray or do meditation to contact the Almighty every day and speak to him to protect you against any future offense attack.
You live in a sinful world where you are most likely to get offended almost every other day. But your holy spirit will remind you that God is there to overcome the situation.
Frequently Answered Questions
#1. What causes someone to be easily offended?
Some people are hypersensitive and respond intensely to both positive and negative situations. Those people can be offended easily. Moreover, the people who suffer from anxiety also get easily offended.
#2. Is getting offended a choice?
Yes, getting offended is a choice. For example, if someone calls you fat for your overweight, then it’s your choice to feel offended.
It is not a natural phenomenon when you feel offended by people’s reactions or thinking. It’s your choice to feel offended and get angry or grudge against that person or take it lightly and leave everything to God.
#3. What does Mathew 18 15 say?
Mathew says that if your brother sins against you, talk to your brother about his faults alone. If he listened to your fault, then you got back your brother. If he doesn’t listen, then take one or two people along with you when you go to your brother so that they will witness your brother’s words.
If he does not listen, then take him to the church, and if he does not listen to the church, then allow him to be gentle towards you. Mathew says whatever things you bind on earth should be bound in heaven.
#4. How do you confront someone in a godly manner?
You should confront someone by using God’s word and forgive the person for the wrong things he had committed.
A Few Final Words
We live in a sinful world where you can get offended every other day. If your strat holding the offense for a long time, you can never connect with God. You decide to either hold the offense or leave it by laughing and faith in God.
We thank you for reading the article and hope we have all your questions related to how you can overcome your spirit of offense.