Offended by the Holy Spirit
Ephesians 4:30
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.
The bible says do not offend the Holy Spirit…….who in their right mind would want to offend the Holy Spirit? Did you know that when we fight and do not get along with others we are offending the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is to be living inside of us. It is meant to guide us and direct us to the life that God has for us. God is a god of peace. The Holy Spirit living inside of you is to make your life peaceful. It is meant to help spread unity in our life and community. Where there is unity there is anointing and a blessing from God.
I know that for myself, I cannot carry offense towards someone or something and be anointed by God. It doesn’t work that way. How can I go along and share the love of God with others when inside of my heart I am angered or bitter towards others. You can’t mix those two together. I would not want to go about my day without the anointing of God in my life. Could you imagine driving down the road, going to the grocery store, or being MARRIED without the anointing? I know, because I lived without the anointing for many years and guess what? I did an awful lot of fighting with my husband. I also did some unkind things to others. I definitely did not reach out and do as God wanted me to do. I saw how if I just would of reacted differently to things, how much better situations would have turned out. I had to learn things the wrong, hard way. It is so much easier to have the Holy Spirit living within you and helping guide you in your path of life. Once you start listening and stop rejecting, you will come to see all that God has for you just by you simply obeying .
How can we offend the Holy Spirit:
1. When we excuse away our sinfulness. The Holy Spirit is mean to be a source of conviction in our hearts. People use it to support ungodly behavior and to excuse away their sins.
2. When we go against the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit works hand in hand with God’s word. It revels to us the truth and to not lead us away from it.
We all need the presence of God in our lives. I would NEVER want to live without the presence of the Holy Spirit flowing in my life.
Offending ourselves
Did you know that you can offend yourself?
Matthew 18:8-9 says:
And if your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life crippled or lame than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into the eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the hell of fire.
In these verses God is referring to “cutting out” and getting rid of the things that are causing you to stumble in your life. Having a guilty conscience is a major problem in life. It causes you to shrink back in fear of people finding out your “hidden” sin. You will lack boldness to stand for things God wants you to stand for. When Jesus died on the cross He did it to set us free from condemnation and feelings of guilt. But it is our choice to make right decisions once we accept that He did that for us. We cannot continue to choose sinful behaviors and expect to receive the blessings and benefits of knowing Jesus. His blood bought our freedom. But if we remain in sin when we know that it is wrong, then we are not using the freedom He gave us.
How can we go about not offending ourselves? First we accept and call it what it is SIN. Stop excusing away your problems. State it and name it!!! Then avoid it. Stop participating in that which is causing you to sin. If your conscience condemns it then stay away.
That can include:
- Magazines with immodestly dressed people.
- Movies that you would NOT sit with Jesus and watch.
- Dirty jokes, bad language, gossip with people.
- Music that does not have a positive message.
- Books that cause you to dream up images of sinful things.
- Friends that lead us to do things that are not godly.
There are so many different things that are stumbling blocks in our lives. We need to cut them out and throw them away. Some people have said that looking at things or listening to things that are NOT God honoring do not offend them. But what has happened is that they have become numb to the world. There hearts have become so hardened that things don’t even bother them anymore. That is a sad reality. I don’t want to be numb to things. We want to have our eyes open to see the realities of life, to help others, to live a life victorious in Christ.
Giving offense to others
2 Corinthians 6:3
We put no obstacle in anyone’s way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry
Proverbs 18:19
A brother offended is more unyielding than a strong city, and quarreling is like the bars of a castle.
I like both of these verses. Not being an offense person is a HUGE way to share the testimony of Christ in your life. If we walk around with sinful behaviors, attitudes, and lifestyles how is anyone else whom has those same issues going to want to change things in their own life? Why would they want a “god” who doesn’t even manifest himself in them? One who doesn’t help them change from their wrong ways? People are looking for a way out. They want to get away from their worldly lifestyles and ways, if we can’t show it to them, then why would they want to change?
Want to know the BEST way to AVOID giving offense to others??
Think before you do or say something!!!
If we were just to “think” a moment before we start to speak, we can usually avoid offending someone. The bible says it is hard to tame the tongue. For many of us, we just speak before we think!!! When our friends are sick with the flu for weeks on end and we start talking about how we prayed and did not get that sickness—we are causing offense to someone. When we go minister in a low income area and we choose to wear expensive clothing or jewelry, we are probably going to cause some offense. If we know people are struggling with sin in their lives and we prance around dabbling in the sin—because we don’t have issues with it, we are causing offense.
We have friends that dress more modestly than we do, whenever we go visit with them, I make sure to dress as modest as they would out of respect to them. If you know someone does something, don’t go against the grain and be disrespectful. If your friend struggles with food, don’t eat something that you know causes them to crave it in front of them. Help them, encourage them.
If you are in a disagreement with someone, the best thing you can do is stay calm. Allow others to have their way in the conflict. By choosing to remain calm and not be part of the disagreement puts a quick end to the anger and will stop the offense. Being part of foolish and dumb arguments are NOT a sign of a believer. God wants us to be the peacemakers, helping others to learn to have self control in their lives.
Be considerate of others and think how they feel in their own situation. The saying “put yourself in someone else’s shoes” is a huge reminder of how we are to walk around in love and not in offense.
Find out what offense does to us next……
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