Matthew 11:6 And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.
A wounded soldier is out of action. Both literally and spiritually a wounded combatant must leave the battlefield. A wounded soldier loses his ability to defend himself or his country. If the soldier is wounded during battle, then the other soldiers are not to forsake the wounded soldier. They must make sure that the enemy does not get to the wounded comrade and kill him.
Metaphorically in a spiritual battle, “offense” is the wound that will incapacitate us to continue the fight. We are constantly in a spiritual battle. We battle to keep the peace at home. We battle to protect our children from worldly distractions, we wrestle to uphold the truth at our workplace and we struggle to stand against slander in a social environment. If we are not alert and agile we will be attacked by offense. “The prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). The devil, the prince of the air, will shoot arrows of offense and kill joy, peace and unity in any arena with offense. Offense is a dangerous wound that would injure, inflict and infect a soldier for the Lord.
The most destructive spiritual wound is to be offended with God! The prince of the air (satan) will fire arrows of discouragement to hurt our heart. “Where was God when you lost your dear one”? “Why didn’t God protect you from losing your health”? or “Why was God silent when you were abused”? We must be quick to lift up the shield of faith and say, “My God will make all things work together for good” and stop the poison of offense from penetrating and corrupting our heart. Don’t ignore an offended brother or sister. The battle principle warrants other believers to protect and uplift an offended person from the lethal lies of the enemy.
The wound of offense:
1. Cold: Offense makes us cold, angry and agitated with God and people. God is not the author of evil. He is the transformer of the mess into a miracle. He is our solicitor, defender and arbitrator. If our hearts get cold towards the Compassionate Creator we would become weak and vulnerable on the battlefield.
2. Callous: Offense can turn our heart hard and callous. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes (Matthew 13:15). A callous heart will become insensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
3. Crude: Offense makes us rude and snappy. “Hurt people hurt others”. They must not slander anyone and must avoid quarreling. Instead, they should be gentle and show true humility to everyone (Titus 3:2). To be a violent combatant in God’s army our responses and reactions cannot be crude or rough. Our words must be gentle, humble and slathered with love.
Offense is an incapacitating battle injury.
1 Peter 4:8 Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Prayer: Dearest Holy Spirit, sharpen my spiritual agility to be quick to recognize and quench the arrows of offense before it penetrates through my mind into my heart. Help me to overcome offense with unconditional love. Amen
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