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Have you ever been offended? I'm sure you have .... but have you ever realised just how damaging this can be to yourself and to others. Jesus told us that offences will surely come. You cannot avoid them, but you can decide what you will do with them. Being offended is not the same as being wronged or sinned against. When you are offended by someone else's action or attitude, the offence is yours, not theirs! Jesus was the cause of offence to many but He never sinned against them. I want to look at some Biblical examples of those who took offense and at what it cost them. In Matthew 13 Jesus tells the parable of the sower and the seed. Some seed fell on stony ground where it had not much root. It sprang up and was quickly scorched by the sun. He said that this is like the man who receives the word of life gladly but, when persecution comes because of the Word, he is offended, and turns away from the faith. How many have become Christian believers because they were promised a wonderful life but were never warned that Jesus calls us to the disciplined life of taking up our cross and following Him, if we would know the truths of His promise. When it became tough, they fell away, being offended. The result was that the seed sown produced no fruit. The Holy Spirit wants to produce the fruit of love, joy, peace in our lives but, when we take offence, there can be no such fruit. Later in the same chapter, we read that Jesus came to His own town of Nazareth and stood up in the synagogue to read on the Sabbath day. The people who heard Him had known Him as a young lad and familiarity had bred contempt. "Who does he think he is?" they said. "Isn't his father Joseph the carpenter and aren't his family our neighbours?" Matthew 13:57 records that they took offence at Him. The result was that He did not do many miracles there. When we are offended, we will not only produce no fruit in our lives but we also hinder the supernatural work of God in our community!

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