“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” Psalm 119:165 (KJV)
Being offended has already been a common feeling among Christian people, especially those who are sensitive to words. The sad thing is that the offense might cause a long-term bitterness or resentment for the person who is upset. But as Christians, can we have a good defense against a great offense?
Offenses, for the most part, happen when somebody says a comment too hard—or possibly we think it that way. These displeasures occur when we see that we have been disregarded, neglected, or given an obligation we don’t want. Also, we noticeably become outraged when we are reprimanded for something we didn’t do or when we don’t get a kudos for what we did and the appreciation is given to others. We might be also offended when somebody has been discourteous or negligent or use us for their own selfish purposes.
Pride
Before we discuss the way to deal with offensive words, we would like to talk first about the most dangerous attitude that can heighten the feeling of anger or the sensitivity of being hurt – that villain is called pride. Pride is easily hurt, and it is fast to react. When pride feels undermined, it agonizes against what it sees to hurt it. It searches for approaches to raise itself or put another down. It checks every one of the offenses and keeps them to legitimize its position until the point that it finds a chance to break out in justification of itself.
A proud spirit is harmful or unhealthy in a relationship, especially within the family and the church. This kind of attitude easily gets offended and find ways to get revenge because of the grudge that has been brood throughout times.
Love Thy Law
The verse above taken from the Authorized King James Bible shows the best way to protect ourselves from the danger of lingering with an offended attitude which is mostly because of pride. It says that we should love the law of God or the words of God. The reason for this is for us to have great peace and nothing shall offend us.
Loving the word of God means a lot of things which is not only about reading the Bible but also living the other Christian practices. To love the scripture is to meditate, study, practice, and share them with others. As you are applying these practices to your daily life, you can develop a better and strong version of yourself which is spiritual enough not to be offended.
A Choice
So far, we’ve been discussing particular experiences of being offended, the very root cause of the feeling, and the best answer to deal with the problem. At this end, we would like to say that being offended is your choice. It is you who have the responsibility to be strong in the Lord through His empowering words for you to withstand the fiery trials of temptation, degradation, insult, pride, resentment, anger, and revenge.
Spend more time with people who can encourage you, who can help you grow spiritually, and who can be on your side when you need them. Most important of all, read your Bible and kneel down in prayer because it’s only God who can make us mature by His mercy and grace.