"I will NEVER speak to you again!"

Offence is one of those things that affects most of us at some time or another - it is also used by Satan and is one of his most useful tools in driving and alienating people from one another and God.

I'will never speak to you again!!

We can get offended over the most trivial things or we get offended when people don't do the things we expect them to do.  Sometimes that person may be completely unaware of what we were expecting of them in the first place.

Taking and giving offence is a sin - it can be a two way race - giving offence is sometimes inadvertently done to someone who is super sensitive but does that make it ok? Not at all! It is still a sin and we as Christians should be extra careful in the way we approach people.

When we are talking to people we should become super-sensitive in our approach, language and conversation - taking huge amounts of care in the way we are talking and acting.

Taking offence is something that we are probably all guilty of at some time. Offence can drive families apart - can ruin churches and lead to all sorts of mayhem and disasters.

As John Bevere put it in one of his books - it is "The Bait of Satan"

Satan loves to use offence - he knows that offence is one of those personal sins - And because it is so personal it can cut at our very hearts where we hold our innermost thoughts and sensitivities.

If we are offended we feel let-down, victimised, bullied, disappointed, angry and revengeful.

All or at least some of these feelings usually come to the fore when we are offended - all of them wrong - all of them are sins and all with the potential to cause arguments, to seek vengeance and retaliation. Offence will ultimately cause separation from that person but more importantly from God.

We will get to the stage of complete estrangement from family, friends and acquaintances. But more importantly it can become total estrangement from our Lord and Saviour.

Jesus has the answer to this moral dilemma - But it takes a big commitment from us - a commitment to give ALL or yield EVERYTHING over to God, including our very nature - God can and will change us dramatically.

The sin of offence can be replaced with a peace and love for others that you would never think possible - YES God can change our hearts to that degree, so that offence will have no part in our lives at all.

Don't be deceived confession and repentance is great and so necessary BUT if we haven't yielded our ENTIRE life to God then we get caught in the sin-confess-sin-confess syndrome with sin having a BIG foothold in our life.

If God isn't everything in our lives - then he hasn't got any place in our lives at all.

It is one thing to say "yes" I will accept Jesus as my Saviour and Lord BUT if we still want to hang onto our old life with all the hang-ons then Jesus hasn't got the complete control that He needs to fully change our lives.

If you focus on immorality you will become immoral - If you focus on mud you will become dirty - If you focus on jealousy guess what? you become jealous and if you focus on offences you will become offended BUT... If you focus on Holiness you WILL become holy.

You become what you focus on -

The on-going consequence of sin in our life can alienate us entirely from our Lord and Saviour who so desperately want to hold us near

Satan gains most ground in our lives through our own attitudes of unforgiveness and taking offence.

We struggle hard to get the speck out of our brothers eye when all the time we don't notice the log of offence in our own. We easily see all the wrong in others - we easily take offence at what they may say, do or even think.

Giving and taking offence should have no part whatever in the Christian's life - If you are offended with someone or you know someone is offended in you - then it is up to you, with our amazing Lord's help, to make sure it is put right.

Confess Jesus as your Lord - give your life ENTIRELY to the Lordship of Him. Ask Him to change your life through His Spirit and to change you into a child of God.

Renounce the things of darkness - things like taking offence - stop living for yourself and start living for God - it is a freedom that you never thought possible.