Luke 17 New King James Version (NKJV)
Jesus Warns of Offenses
17 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
Everyone today is offended at something or someone. We change the name of food items, the names of football teams, we tare down statues, we rewrite history, etc. all because we are offended.
Do we ever stop to think if we have offended God? I will guarantee that most of use do not. We are too wrapped up in our own stuff to really think about what/how God might think.
Lets face it, we are at constant war with each other over something or someone. We take the Lord’s name in vein. We expose ourselves to porn and other things on the internet. We hate just to hate. We kill to kill. We seek revenge and justice because we think we are owed something. We drink and/or use drugs way too much or take. We expect others to take care of us simply because we think we are entitled. There is very little compassion, love, kindness, patience, or forgiveness. We think we can do what we want without any consequences.
God gave us an instruction manual and frankly, we have twisted it to fit our own desires. If that did not work we have pissed and crapped all over it in order to dismiss it out right. Yet God still loves us.
Next we took a gift that God gave us, His son. We decided to humiliate and reject, then we decided to convict Him a crime He did not commit just to get rid of Him. Yet God still loves us,
Do you think God might have the right to be offended? I would say Yes, but is He? I do not know the answer, but I would think the answer is no. I believe He is highly concerned for us and wants us to do the right thing in His eyes, but that is because He loves us.
So the next time you start to get offended by what someone else did, think about if your action or reaction might offend God. At the very least think if this is how Christ would want you to act. If you are struggling with this concept, then I urge you to pray and ask God for help.