January 19, 2023

UNOFFENDABLE

TODAY’S SCRIPTURE

Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

Proverbs 19:11 NLT

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TODAY’S THOUGHT

What if we tried something really weird, outlandish, and counter-cultural? Ready to be really different from our world? Let’s decide to be “unoffendable.” When I type that word it gets a red line under it because it is not even in my programs dictionary—maybe that should alert me that our culture doesn’t even have a use for this word. If you look up the word “offended” you will discover it is an adjective that brings with it the concepts of resentful, annoyed, angry, hurt, or upset. These emotions usually come as the result of a perceived insult. To be offended is an emotional response to something someone else has done. It usually displays itself in angry words, actions, or both. Our text today tells us, “Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.” You mean we can control our anger? We can choose not to be offended. We can be “unoffendable?” I grew up with an anger problem. I’m not sure the source of my anger but I’m pretty sure it was the result of some of my personal inferiority feelings. I struggled for years with an explosive temper. It did not take much for me to get angry. I would justify my anger as “righteous anger.” I was upset because of what I perceived as an injustice. I was even smart enough in my young adult days to justify my actions by referring to the Bible passage of Jesus cleansing the Temple by turning over the tables of the money changers and driving them out of the Temple with a whip. The problem was my anger was not righteous. It came from a fleshly source that wanted to attack others and prove I was right, and they were wrong. (I’m so glad we did not have social media in my teenage years, there would have been a lot of stuff on the internet I would never be able to delete.) The problem with being offended and getting angry is that I never have full understanding of any situation. My intellect is limited. Only God is the righteous judge. Only God knows all things. Plus, my anger impacts me more than it solves a problem. It churns inside of me and robs me of peace and joy. It took me a long time to learn to control my temper. There were a lot of prayers asking forgiveness. There were a lot of humble moments of asking others to forgive words I spoke or actions I did in anger that hurt someone else. Let’s choose to be “unoffendable.” Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any anger hiding in our hearts. Let’s choose to overlook wrongs.

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TODAY’S PRAYER

Holy Spirit search my heart and show me where I have allowed anger to hide in my heart. Forgive me and help me to walk unoffendable.

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