An Offended Generation

Lesson 12

In this series of lessons, we are learning about the soul and how it becomes wounded through sin and trauma. Once the soul has wounds, it can affect every single area of your life, from your finances to your health. We are promised; in 3 John 1:2 we will prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. That extends to our families, ministries and our businesses. It extends to physical and emotional health. It extends to relationships. Wounds in the soul can affect a myriad of different areas.

There are specific sins that wound the soul that result in sicknesses. Generally speaking, they are sins of offense. We have become an offended generation. Everyone is offended about something, or many things, perhaps. People are going off on minor things. You may be shopping for groceries and accidently step in front of somebody and they may get very angry. Their reaction is completely out of proportion to the perceived offense.

In Arizona, drivers are sometimes very aggressive. Everyone is in a hurry and they expect everyone else to just move over and give him or her an open lane. They follow too closely, at 70 miles per hour, and then squeeze through that narrow space between your car and the one in the lane next to you, so all three of your vehicles end up at the next light together. You, the model Christian, are driving along, listening to praise and worship on the stereo, when suddenly the car comes from nowhere and cuts through, missing your bumper by inches. Suddenly, you go from “Praise the Lord” to “Learn how to drive, you idiot!!” Then, you catch yourself and say, “Oh, and praise the Lord. Hallelujah. Have a nice day.”

Have you ever been sitting in a traffic jam, crawling along at less than five miles an hour, when someone “third-lanes” everyone in the line by driving to the end of the turn lane. Those people, go as far as they can, then “politely” put on their turn signals, as they root their way into the lane. “Hey fool!! Wait your turn like the rest of us!!” I mean, “Bless him, Jesus. He obviously needs you.”

Some days, it seems like half the world is completely offended and the other half is out to offend me! But, you know what? I really can’t be mad about that because those peeps don’t have Jesus. They don’t have the Holy Spirit to convict them and control them.

So, the world is going to act like the world. Born-again believers, however, do not get a pass on this. Too many in the body of Christ have also become offended. Too many of us are acting just like the world. We’re offended if someone doesn’t make our coffee right at the coffee shop. We’re offended at the waitress who doesn’t bring our food quickly enough. We’re offended at our boss because he expects us to do something we don’t like. We’re offended at our pastor because we needed him to pray for us but he was just too busy on Sunday. Or he didn’t call us last week, when we weren’t feeling well. (He should have known that is the only reason we would miss prayer service!)

We’re offended at people in church sitting right next to us but we pretend to be their friend. We’re offended at our spouses for one thing or another. We’re offended at our mom and dad for sticking their noses into our lives all the time. We’re offended at everything!

We have to watch ourselves. Offense is a sin. It will wound the soul and make you physically sick. There are thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of people around the world who are sick because they let themselves become offended and they chose to stay offended.

I speak from experience. I have to watch myself constantly. I travel a lot. Let me tell you, TSA tries my Christian-walk every time. It seems, no matter what I do to prepare myself I set off the metal detector, which is followed by, “Excuse me, ma’am, can you step over here ’cause we need to pat you down.” Hey, I did five years in Federal Prison. The words, “Pat you down” trigger me, big time. I never want to hear those words again.

Next comes, “Okay, put your hands in the air and spread your feet apart.” Great. Those are fighting words to me. I have to remember; the TSA agent would not understand that. I have to possess my soul during those times.

You may be thinking this word is good for someone else, feeling you hold no offense against someone else. I suggest you pray earnestly for confirmation on that because, what I see is just about everyone is carrying some offense, big and small, recent and past, no matter how old.

Next week, I plan to give you a summary of my new teaching, “Bent: Slaying the Giants in Your Soul.” Then, we will come back to the topic of offense and I will give you scriptures that will open your eyes a little wider to this subject.

Big Love, Katie

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