Overcoming Offense

Overcoming Offense

Part

of our

"Walking Supernaturally"

Series.

Walking Supernaturally

in a 

Fallen World

This page deals with...

How to

overcome

Offense toward people

Devotionals

by

Beth McLendon

Also consider our related page - Capturing Thoughts

Monday

Let's talk about People...

People can be difficult to be around.

People get in moods.

People can be inconsiderate.

People sometimes do dastardly things.

But God tells us to let it go and forgive anyway.

God wants us to be hard to offend.

The Truth is

Being offended at one person

affects us with every person.

Are you

Holding A Fence?

Holding A Fence means Holding Offense

Introducing the Video...

As this man

navigates his day to day routine,

he is holding offenses that others can see, but he can't.

Overcoming Offense is difficult.

This page has Awesome tips to help YOU!

This page

is written to

inspire and help you.

If you yield to God,

he will help you take your difficult things

and

make

YOU AMAZING!

God is refining you

to take out the impurities. 

Tuesday

Inspiring Music

and

Prayer

are two of the ways

that

God gets you ready

to

give up offenses.

Prayer for Victory

Lord,

I may be struggling with offense - 

BUT

IF

I yield to you

I can say...

You Raise me Up -  so I can stand on mountains.

You Raise me Up -  to walk on stormy seas.

I am STRONG when I am on your shoulders.

You Raise me Up -  to more than I can be.

Music to Awaken

the

CHAMPION

inside of US!

~ ~ ~ VICTORY MUSIC!  ~ ~ ~

Motivational Music

For every

Attack against me!

I will be a

Mighty Follower of Jesus!

I invite you to visit our page

Music for Champions 

Give God a chance to help you by

Listening

to inspiring Music

and

Praying

Power Prayers to God.

Consider these Prayer pages:

Prayers for Yielding to God

Prayer for Strength

 Full Armor of God Prayer against strife

Prayers to Conquer unforgiveness

Wednesday

Right Thoughts

are

a major key

to enable you

to let go of offenses.

Give God a chance to help you.

Allow God

to give you thoughts

that

move you

toward 

OVERCOMING  Offense.

God can do AMAZING things through you

Thoughts are Key

-

God will teach you to

capture your thoughts and overcome offense!

We begin with some thoughts from our page:

How to Capture Your Thoughts as 2 Corinthians teaches

The Bible tells us

that we can

capture our thoughts

and then

turn them in the right direction.

2 Corinthians 10:5

tells us to

Take every thought captive

and

BRING our thoughts

into obedience to Christ."

This takes practice!

Look at the dog below.

The dog captured the ball -  which will stand for a bad thought.

Are you like that dog?

Do you keep company with your bad thoughts?

Do you let them "hang around" with you? 

If you will

inch

forward with God

in taking your thoughts captive

God will help you.

It

IS

possible to take thoughts captive!

The miracle is there for you

if

you move forward.

Look

at the boy above.

The boy is ready to catch a ball.

Are YOU ready

to catch your thoughts?

Steps to take

Let's take an example of

offense with someone you

don't know well.

That will make it easier to overcome.

After thinking a thought

of offense

against someone...

Capture that thought!

Capture it!

Grocery Store cashier example

Step One

Capture your Thoughts

You are at the grocery store and you think...

"There is that idiotic grocery store cashier.

She is so irritating. I can't stand her!"

Step Two

Evaluate your thoughts...

"Do those words and that attitude 

agree with Bible principles?"

The answer is

>    No    <

So

then

in step three

intentionally

replace those thoughts with godly thoughts.

Step Three

Replace wrong thoughts with...

"I am going to choose to act like Jesus

and

think kindly and act kindly

toward that cashier."

Step Four

Sometimes   > Prayer for Strength <  is needed:

Lord of my Life, 

Being kind to this cashier is going to be hard.

Strengthen me.

I want to choose to be a

Mighty Follower of Jesus Christ.

I proclaim that

I WILL

do hard things for you, my Lord.

Amen

Step Five

Then take action

based on God's Word.

Adding Scripture

can help

strengthen your resolve to make right decisions.

Consider Step 3 in the above example.

Instead of -  just  - saying, 

"I am going to choose to act like Jesus

and think kindly and act kindly

toward that cashier"

let's add Scripture.

Adding Scripture

looks like this...

Replace the wrong thought with - 

"I am going to choose to act like Jesus

and think kindly and act kindly

toward that cashier,

because

Ephesians 4:32  ESV says,

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another,

as God in Christ forgave you."

Another Scripture choice might be....

Galatians 6:10 NKJV

Therefore,

as we have

opportunity,

let us do good to all,

especially to those who are of the household of faith.

Thursday

Inspirational Story

Being more

understanding toward others

helps to protect us against offense.

After the death of a close loved one,

I was an emotional mess, and

I was tempted to be very irritable.

As God was walking me through it,

he also made me more keenly aware

of the pains of other people.

One day I was in the grocery check-out line.

As the cashier was ringing me up,

I thought,

"If I had to work today, I would be so grumpy.

I don't know if I could help myself from being grumpy.

And I am a Christian!

I'm supposed to have the power of God!"

Prayer changes things.

Prayer changes us.

Heavenly Father,

Help me to overlook

the unkindness of other people

from

now on.

I have no idea

what other people have lived through

and

what they are currently living through.

I pray in the Overcoming Name of Jesus!

Amen

A Powerful Tip

When dealing with people,

it is helpful

to remember...

God wants us

to choose

to think the best of others.

~

God

wants us to

intentionally practice

thinking godly thoughts concerning others.

Doing That

will make it easier

to take thoughts

of offense

and replace them with godly thoughts.

I'll show you how.

When someone does something unkind to me

or my loved ones,

I can choose to

frame the event

with godly thoughts.

When people do something unkind to me,

I can choose to think,

"Maybe they are having a hard day."

OR

"Maybe they are just blowing off steam from a

recent rejection or injustice."

OR

"Maybe they have a concerning issue in their body

or a

hard challenge in their life."

"Maybe something awful

has recently happened in their life."

OR

"Maybe

he or she IS a jerk -

 -  but  - 

that jerk needs to know Jesus better

in order to

become

a nice member of society!"

Jerks NEED our prayers.

We who know Christ

are supposed to pray for jerks.

After a confrontation

Examples of

godly thoughts for after a confrontation...

I can choose to say,

"God, I didn't deserve what that person just did to me,

but

I am going to choose to pray for that person right now

and let go of offense."

And

I can choose to Pray...

Lord of my Life,

Whatever is causing that person

to reach out

with those

actions, words, and attitudes,

I pray that you will

minister to that person.

I pray that you will rescue that person

from the hardness in his heart

and

move that person

toward you and toward kindness.

Amen

Step Five

Then take action

based on God's Word.

So I will....

Give out

kind words and actions.

Showing kindness

to difficult people takes practice.

-

Let's practice being

instruments

of 

Righteousness!

I can practice and get

Better and Better!

Friday

Dealing with Offense -  with Friends

When we have

offense

with a friend,

it will damage our friendship

and greatly affect our Christian walk. 

A Fictional Story

I get in my car and drive an hour

to a friend's office to meet her

for a

planned lunch together.

When I get there,

her secretary says,

"She decided to take the day off today."

! ! ! ! ! ! !

Anger rises...

Step One

Capture Thoughts that say,

"I just drove for an hour to get here!

I am wasting

2 hours of my day!

She could have called to let me know!

How dare she forget about me!

I would never do such a thing.

Wait till sh

asks me again to have lunch! 

!

I should give her a piece of my mind."

Step two

Evaluate the thought...

"Does that thought and attitude agree with the Bible?"

Answer:

"No."

Step Three

Replace the thoughts with...

"I feel angry. She should have called me.

But - I am going to choose to act like Jesus

and

think kindly and act kindly

toward my friend."

Adding Scripture helps.

"I feel angry. She should have called me.

But -

in Ephesians 4:32 ESV

you told me to

'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

as God in Christ forgave me.'

So I am going to be kind and tenderhearted.

I am going to shake it off.

I am going to forgive "

Prayer will be needed to help me with this situation.

Step Four

Sometimes -  Prayer for Strength -  is needed:

"God I feel angry. She should have called me.

Yet, I hate to admit it but

I do not have a perfect memory either.

In Ephesians 4:32 ESV

you told me to

'Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave me." 

So, I am going to be kind and tenderhearted.
I am going to shake it off.
I am going to forgive. 

I could have called before I left just
to make sure
everything was set.

Next time,

I'll put the burden on me

to call and make sure before I leave my house.

I am a Mighty Woman of God.

I will quickly Overcome This."

I pray in the Powerful Name of Jesus!

Amen

A Second Prayer example.....

Lord of my Life, 

My feelings are going wild.

My thoughts are trying to take me down.

Help me, Lord.

I want my attitude and actions

to be pleasing unto you.

You have greatly blessed me

and

I will follow you by

showing my friend

love and kindness.

As Philippians 4:13 says,

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

I pray,

in the Powerful Name of my Savior Jesus Christ,

Amen!

Step Five

Then take action

based on God's Word.

Take Note

Godly Music

can help

soften our heart to God's Word.

Help with Difficult Forgiveness

Saturday

Dealing with our Family

Dealing with Offense -  in the Family

When we have

offense

with a family member,

it is more difficult to handle.

It is more complicated.

This is especially true when it is an ongoing situation.

So...

Let's start with an easier offense situation.

The rest of the examples

on this page

pertain to

Married Couples

A True Story

I am in the kitchen waiting for my husband to come home.

There is no offense

currently present in my heart.

I am beginning to prepare supper,

when all of a sudden

irritation

jumps on me.

I start to get very upset

with my husband for being late.

The feelings

get so strong

that

it caused me to mentally step back and ask myself -

"WHY am I THIS irritated?"

This should be no big deal. 

Just because he usually gets home at a certain time

does not mean

I need to

get all bent out of shape

when he is home a little late.

What is wrong with me?

Then I thought,

"Could it be that

my husband is doing something nice for me

and the

demonic kingdom

is trying to get me upset and ruin it?

Even if that is not the case,

I recognize

that the

demonic kingdom DOES want to create conflict - 

AND I am going to refuse to participate!

Even if

my husband is not getting me something,

I am going to be

uplifting and happy when he gets home!

AND

Guess what?

Actually

my guess

was exactly what had happened.

My husband had stopped to get me a card

and

it was taking him a long time to decide which card.

What if?

What if - When he came home -

I had angrily

jumped all over him?

I imagine

he would not have given me the card.

I imagine

he would have been really mad at me.

I imagine

he would think...

"Here I was doing something really nice for her

and she is all upset with me!

That is the last time

I'll stop and do something nice for her!!"

Do you see how

conflict gets started by the demonic kingdom??

Can you see

why

it is VERY important

that we think the best of our beloved family members?

Offense is the 

GREAT DESTROYER

of 

Family Relationships.

God

wants us to

intentionally THINK godly thoughts.

Sunday

Walking with Jesus

Learning to walk supernaturally!

Anyone can walk naturally.

God wants to teach YOU to walk

SUPER - NATURALLY!

Steps to Victory 

Another 

Specific Example

of

How

to take thoughts

Captive

Think back to Saturday.

We will

take the

Husband - Wife Story

as an example...

Overcoming Offense in Marriage

Step One

The wife

(me)

Captures Thoughts that say,

"He is late getting home. What is he doing?

Here I am cooking a nice dinner and doing all this work
to make his evening relaxing
and where in the world is he?
He didn't even call.

He is probably talking to someone

and

losing track of time....

He's not even thinking about ME

and thinking about

getting home to ME!"

Step two

Evaluate the thought...

"Does that thought and attitude agree with the Bible?"

Answer:

"No."

Step Three

Replace the thoughts with...

"I have a wonderful husband

and

I will

intentionally keep a great attitude. 

Instead of getting mad,

I will be especially happy and joyful

when he comes home. 

I am a Mighty Woman of God.

I will please the Lord as I praise the Lord."

Step Four

Sometimes Prayer for Strength is needed:

Lord of my Life, 

I don't know why

my feelings are going in the wrong direction.

Help me, Lord.

I want my attitude and actions
to be pleasing unto you.

You have greatly blessed me,

and

I will show my husband

love and kindness when he gets home.

I am a Mighty Woman of God.

As Philippians 4:13 says,

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!

I pray these things

in the Powerful Name of my Savior Jesus Christ,

Amen!

Step Five

Then take action

based on God's Word.

If

you want information about

Dealing with

Difficult offenses -  in marriage

I plan to

be doing a page on that topic.

Also note that I have a page - Offense with God

And for more understanding  -  Capturing our thoughts

Jump to the top of  Overcoming Offense

Overcoming Offense was posted in July 2024.