Matthew 6:12 (NKJV)
“And forgive us our debts
As we forgive our debtors.”
Ephesians 4:32 (NKJV)
“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
Forgiving one another, even as God in Christ
forgave you.”
Colossians 3:12-13 (NKJV)
12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering;
13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.
“In his book, Erasing Offense, there is a mention of the only way for us as believers to stay free of offense and that is to abound in God’s kind of love. He goes on to write that love is not just an emotion or a feeling. Love is a choice.”
Duane Sheriff
“Just as offense has a process, so too breaking free from offense has a process.
And it starts with the denying of self. Self is the center of all offense.”
Duane Sheriff
Three Common ways that strife and contention causes offense:
- Imaginary Offense –
2 Corinthians 10: 4-5 (NKJV)
“For the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal, but mighty in God for pulling
down strongholds,
v.5 Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the
knowledge of God bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ.”
- Accidental offense –
Proverbs 19:11 (AMP)
“Good sense and discretion make a man slow to anger,
and it is his honor and glory to overlook a transgression
or an offense.”
- Actual Offense –How do we forgive offense?
- Pray and Release others of theirs-
Luke 23:34 (KJV)
“Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”
- Reflect on how you received yours
Acts 26:15-18 (NKJV)
“I said, ‘Who are You, Lord?”
And He said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose,
To make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have
Seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you.
I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles,
To whom I now send you.
To open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light,
And from the power of Satan to God,
That they may receive forgiveness of sins,
And an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.”
- Let it go – (example) log at the bridge.
“Jesus taught us to look forward in life and not backward. Looking back is how offense tries to overcome us, but we can overcome offense by looking forward.”
~ Duane Sheriff
“It is a myth to say that you can forget an offense, it is a truth that you do not have to focus on it.” ~ ~ Dr. Terry Brown