Offense

I read this the other day:

"Just because you are offended, doesn't mean that you're right."

I've been mediating on that quite a bit.

Just because I am offended doesn't mean that:

A.  I have the right to be offended.
B.  They are wrong in what is said or done.

Sometimes we are offended when we shouldn't be. 

Somebody says something and we take offense, either because it "hits us wrong," or we have experienced a bad day. 

Under normal circumstances it wouldn't have bothered us, but "if you knew what I've been going through, you would understand why that offended me."

In other words, what was said or done was done at the wrong time, in the wrong way and at the wrong place.

But let's talk about those times when somebody says or does something that is right - and yet we still remain offended.

Someone speaks the truth (and they speak it in love) and we choose to walk away - in offense.

Whether it is out of embarrassment or the realization that our faults have come out into the open, we can choose to walk away with feelings of hurt and anger.

Here's what I know:  Some people walk around with a spirit of offense.  They are constantly being offended.

Like the garbage that piles up in your house, they carry around with them the "smell of offense."  You can "smell" their offended feelings when you come in contact with them.

They are just waiting for you to say something or do something whereby they will leave your presence offended.

To put it crassly, those kinds of people are a bummer to be around.  You have to watch everything you say and do.  At no time can you simply "relax" with them and be yourself.

Everything is judged.  Everything is examined. 

Here's what I know:  offense is a choice we make.  I make a choice as to whether or not I am going to be offended.  And when I am offended, I choose as to whether or not I will remain entrenched in that offense.

Offense gives the person who has offended us control over us.  They hold a power over the way we feel and the way we act (many times for a lifetime).

Don't let that person control you by remaining in offense!  Choose to be set free today and move on!

Let the "perfume" of God's Holy Spirit bathe you in love and forgiveness!

Just a thought for a Thursday.