I'm Offended

Any relationship that involves human beings is eventually going to create a “rough” spot. One of the two sides of the party is in some fashion going to hurt the other party either by words or action. It is inevitable, there is no way around it, it is a matter of life. Sometimes the offensive word was accidental, sometimes the action was on purpose, at times it is simply a misunderstanding.

During your life you will be offended by a friend, acquaintance, coworker, or neighbor, and there will be nothing you can do to stop it; and there probably would have been no way you could have prevented it. But, there is something we can do when it happens, we can suffer. (I bet that sounds like stupid advice.) Jesus said “take up your cross daily and follow me,” (Luke 9:23) would that include suffering for the sake of keeping a relationship? Absolutely.

By choosing to bear the burden of pain caused by the other party we can continue gaining the good fruit that has mostly come from this relationship. We must ask ourselves some questions, is it truly worth losing this relationship over one offense? Several things comes to light as offenses happen, we get to see how much the relationship means to us, we also see how mature both sides of the parties are, if I am handling it in a Christlike fashion or not, and how much pride I have in my life. These hard times are great at revealing who we really are and what we value.

During these times, if we will lean upon Christ instead of responding like a nuclear reactor on meltdown we shall find joyous outcome. What we find is that we can endure pain for the sake of loving relationships. When we choose to love the person verses withdrawing our small amount of love that we had for them, then God gives us more love for them. With greater love we find the relationship continuing instead of ending in heartbreak, we find that there is much good in the relationship which far outweighs that one little moment in time. We also find ourselves loving more people, tolerating more, being less angry, less dissatisfied, with much more overall joy. The next time you are offended ask yourself, am I willing to suffer like Christ?