Do Not Be Offended
Many Christians know that to be deliberately offensive or cause offense to another is wrong and unbiblical. However, to become offended or take offense in something said or done towards us, is just as wrong and unbiblical. Being in offense will block your blessings.
Being in offense will bring about affliction .. Hosea 5:15
Being in offense can cause us to go in the way of evil .. 1 Sam. 25:31-33
Offense is like a large rock that can cause us to stumble greatly .. Isaiah 8:14& Matthew 16:23
Nobody on earth will escape offense .. Matthew 18:7
We are told by Paul to avoid offense at all cost .. Acts 24:16
Offense is the reciprocal of grace and righteousness .. Romans 5:15-20
Faith cannot work when offense is present .. Romans 9:32-33
Offense seeks only to profit self .. 1 Cor. 10:31-32
Offense looks for ways to find fault and lay blame .. Philippians 1:10
Offense and evil go hand in hand .. Jeremiah 2:3
Being in offense produces guilt and shame .. John 6:59-61
Lack of offense leads to maturation .. James 3:2
Offense and unforgiveness will feed one another. However, love will always be able to overcome offense of any kind.
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 .. 4)Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily. 5)It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].
Our best defense against offense is to keep our relationship with God, growing and prospering. We should nurture this relationship daily and not allow interference or degeneration to begin to occur. This insures us that when we do become offended, we can immediately cry out to God for alleviation and vindication and soon have the entire matter behind us. Hebrews 4:16