Dear Self: Stop Being Offended!

I think if I were asked to narrow it down to three things… just three simple things… that threaten the advancement of our spiritual lives I would say this:

• living with disappointment
• living amidst distraction
• and living offended

And I think it’s safe to say that we have all been there.
We have all wrestled with some form of disappointment, we've all mismanaged distractions that threaten to throw us off course, and we have all been bitterly offended.

And in my life I say it - STOP.

I would see it in review of a journal I kept last year… the words written on a sticky note as if to remind myself again… “Refuse to be offended.”

And I know it’s easier said than done.
Believe me I know.

I would feel it in the red hot tears that poured down my cheeks on a Monday afternoon in early May.  Tears that flowed from a heart of pain that stemmed from… once again… being offended.

And here's what I think happens when we live offended.
We suffer unnecessarily.
And we inflict heartache that is hard to undo.

But what’s more than that… what’s really happening… is that I am actively and consciously choosing to highlight the enemy’s work instead of magnifying God’s goodness and His redemptive solutions. 

When I choose the way of offense I am choosing to see the burden and obsessively parade it around as if were something I am proud of.  I am choosing to exaggerate the enemy’s control and ultimate victory of defeat in my life.

And I say today… enough is enough.

I would write it down in response to my own situation of offense, because the Jesus people always look for a better way to live.  And I would review it over and over again to get it in the marrow of my bones: “I’ve gotta refuse to highlight the enemy’s work in another person and refuse to allow the dart of offense to lodge itself deep within my heart.  I shall choose to see only that which God has bestowed in the life of another… even if it’s the smallest amount of goodness.  Because the weariness that comes from the weight of offense is too much and the price is too expensive.  The risk is too costly.  The danger isn’t in what the enemy is accomplishing, but in my constant recognition of how he’s advancing.”

I will not longer live offended.
Jesus died for that.
He died so that I wouldn’t have to suffer with irritation, annoyance, resentful displeasure, and insults aimed from the pit of hell itself.

I am a conqueror in Jesus’ name and I will not longer be a slave to the powers of darkness and give way to the lie that my offensive disposition is reasonable and justifiable.

Jesus wants better for me… and for you.

And so I say it again today… I write the letter on my very heart so not to forget:

Dear Self,
Stop living offended.