Letting Go of Offenses

Previously posted on Xanga Thursday, January 12, 2006

Currently Reading: The Bait of Satan: Living Free from the Deadly Trap of Offense

By John Bevere

For your midrash today (Hebrew devotional thought based on a scripture passage - NOT something that requires Goldbond medicated ointment!) let me tell you something God has been working on me about. Proverbs 19:11 (NIV) says "A man's wisdom gives him patience; it is to his glory to overlook an offense." It's pretty easy to get offended by someone. Usually the closer someone is to you the more it hurts. People may offend us by letting us down, or betraying us somehow. It can be real or percieved. We can even be offended by God, thinking that somehow He's let us down, not come through for us. If you look through the Bible on the topic of taking offense you'll see some pretty amazing stuff. There's this cool book I'm reading that makes the point that even if someone offends you somehow, they can't change God's plan for your life. In fact, the only person who can change God's plan for you...is you. How you react to offenses shapes your future. Holding on to offenses make us bitter. It festers in us and we are shut off from God's blessing. We are unable to learn, unable to grow, unable to hear God, and unable to be blessed by God if we are holding on to our offenses. Satan uses offenses to get us totally focused on ourselves - on our own rights. We'll tell anyone who will listen how we've been wronged. Here's the secret - LET IT GO. GET OVER IT. GIVE IT UP TO GOD. Allow God to free you from this "bait of Satan" so you can get on with your life. That's been a message I've had to take to heart in the last couple of months and one I wanted to share with you. I love you guys. Let God work in your hearts, He loves you.