Forgiveness: Learning How to Handle Offense!

December 1, 2022

Forgiveness: Learning how to handle offense

What is forgiveness?

Forgiveness is the process of pardoning a person or people for something that was done to you that caused you to become offended, insulted, or bothered by it. It is also the act of being forgiven by others that you have harmed or offended. Regardless of whether or not you feel like you have the right to remain in an unforgiving state, forgiveness says “let it go.”

The Word of God tells us in Matthew 6:14, “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” Here we can see that Matthew is giving every believer a clear warning; you cannot be forgiven by your Father in Heaven if you do not forgive every single person that has transgressed against you.

I’m not going to lie and make it seem like it is easy to forgive someone that has done something to you that was so vile and painful that you deem it unforgivable. It will be one of the most challenging things that you will ever have to do, but it is necessary. The repercussions of holding onto unforgiveness are just not worth it. You have to get to the point in your life where you love yourself more than your ability to seek revenge, retaliation, and vengeance!

Forgiveness is actually one of the greatest weapons that you can use against the devil and his demonic kingdom. Why? The reason that it is so significant regarding warfare is because any bit of unforgiveness that you have festering in your heart the enemy can and will use against you! An unforgiving heart is one of the most common entry ways that the devil loves to utilize because it gives him the legal rights into our lives.

Understanding the rules and principles surrounding forgiveness will give you the upper hand when the devil tries to use unforgiveness as one of his devices. I am going to go over learning how to handle offense when it seems impossible to do. Keep in mind that forgiveness is one of your greatest spiritual warfare weapons that the enemy can’t stand!

Learning how to handle offense

One of the most difficult things that most of us will ever have to face is forgiving someone for something that was done that you think doesn’t deserve forgiving. It is something so terrible, so vile, and caused such hurtful events that you feel justified in your unforgiving heart towards them. This is especially the case when it is a family member, a spouse, your child, or a close friend because it is extremely personal. It is in our human nature to want to develop anger, bitterness, and feelings of resentment in our hearts instead of taking the high road and letting it go.

Unfortunately, unforgiveness is one of the number one ways that the enemy enters into the lives of believers and causes complete destruction. If you can fully understand that realization it will help you stay ahead of the schemes and the wiles of the devil. Whether you believe it or not, the act of forgiving others is one of the most powerful weapons that you can use against the adversary.

God’s Word is clear on this matter; Luke 6:37 states, “Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” Here we can conclude that our Heavenly Father is telling us that in order for us to be forgiven there is a stipulation, we must first forgive. That is why it is so significant to let go of the negative feelings that you are consumed with at that present moment and instead radiate God’s love.

This is something that most Christians have a difficult time with because they want to get revenge and they want the person or persons to suffer consequences right now! The thing is once you allow that emotion of bitterness and animosity to rise up in your spirit, the devil has you right where he wants you. He doesn’t want you to comprehend the significance of forgiveness.

We have to get the understanding that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, Ephesians 6:12. In other words; you are not fighting against your neighbor, friend, the person at the counter at the grocery store. No, you are wrestling against the demonic spirit that is causing them to act out in a certain way. The devil will use anyone that he can to cause you to establish adverse emotions in the hopes that he can create a strong hold in your life.

Spiritual warfare is an every day reality whether you are a believer or a non-believer you are not exempt. The reality is that you are either going to gain the information needed in order to battle the schemes of Satan and his demonic kingdom or you are going to become a casuality. The Lord explains that His people perish due to the lack of knowledge, Hosea 4:6. That is why it is critical to learn how the devil operates so that you can strategize against his devices.

One of the different ways that you can combat the tactics of the enemy in regards to unforgiveness is by saturating your heart and mind in the Word of God. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you the strength to overcome negative emotions that peek their nasty head. By extinguishing those fiery arrows you are eliminating them from landing and penetrating.

Develop radical forgiveness, the kind of forgiveness that people get confused by. The devil wants you to fester in what someone did to you and the wicked ways that they did it. This is how you begin to develop a root of bitterness. That one thought turns into two thoughts, and then three, and then before you know it, their transgression is all you can think about.

I am going to go over some Bible verses of Scripture that you can meditate on to help you have a clearer understanding of the importance of learning how handle offense.

2 Corinthians 2:10-11

“Now whom you forgive anything, I also forgive. For if indeed I have forgiven anything, I have forgiven that one for your sakes in the presence of Christ, lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

In these Bible verses the Apostle Paul is writing to the Church at Corinth urging them to establish a habit of forgiving one another. This is something that he wants them to include as a part of their daily life adding that the forgiveness shown would be in the presence of Christ Jesus. The fact of the matter is the only way that we can be forgiven of our transgressions is if we forgive every single person that has trespassed against us.

A lot of Christians do not realize the severity of having an unforgiving spirit. There are so many ramifications both physically and spiritually. The enemy is busy keeping the believers ignorant of his strategies as he consistently plants thoughts in our minds in the hopes that they will produce a root of bitterness. A bitter person will find it problematic to go through the process of forgiving others and that is exactly what the devil wants.

That is why we need to take into consideration the fact that Paul is making it clear that the inability to forgive is a device that is used by Satan. I often hear people recite the Bible passage stating that we are not to be ignorant of Satan’s devices but they fail to include the Scripture before which highlights the device that the Lord is referencing, unforgiveness.

God is exposing one of the most notable schemes that the enemy uses on us over and over again but somehow it is consistently overlooked. It is imperative that we abide in the Word of God for our own sake so that we won’t fall into one of the devil’s traps.

The Holy Spirit is a gift of God, our personal Helper and He is the One that will guide us into all truth, John 16:13. He will make you aware of when the enemy is devising one of his strategies to ensnare you. He will give you the strength to truly forgive and will provide you with the peace of mind that will surpass your understanding, Philippians 4:7.

The first step that you want to take is making the decision that you want to let go of the pain that another person has caused you. Realizing how harmful it is to hold on to animosity, bitterness, anger, spite, and unforgiveness will give you the drive that you need to make the choice to choose your well-being over your desire to retaliate.

The devil cannot stand when someone has the revelation of how powerful forgiveness is. Why do you think he tries so hard to make people think that an unforgiving heart is no big deal? It is not a coincidence that there are so many Christians that have their hearts rooted in bitterness and don’t even think twice about it.

I have other articles that I have written about the dangers of unforgiveness that will give you some practical steps on how to get rid of that nasty spirit. I will list them here: Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 2, Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 3, and The Importance of Forgiveness!

Proverbs 18:19

“A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

When a person is easily offended anything will bother them and you literally have to walk on egg shells to ensure that you don’t upset them. They always feel like you’re looking at them the wrong way, you’re always talking about them, or you’re always out to get them. It is extremely difficult to get a person that has a spirit of offense to forgive.

You will notice that these types of people have other negative characteristics that they are dealing with like bitterness, anger, animosity, and pettiness. In this verse of Scripture King Solomon is describing a person with these personality traits as being harder to convince than winning a war against a city that is built for battle. In other words, it is almost impossible.

Then Solomon goes on to say “…And contentions are like the bars of a castle.” In other words the quarreling and strife that they bring against you is so strong it is difficult to oppose it. They are hard to reason with because they feel like they are always right and never in the wrong. They can hold onto a grudge until the day that they die and nine times out of ten they don’t even remember what they were upset about to begin with.

Remember, these kinds of actions and emotions are breeding grounds for a savage attack from the enemy. He loves to use your vulnerable state to open up doors in your life allowing demons to come in and wreak havoc. The Lord isn’t suggesting that we forgive one another, He is commanding us to. If we choose to hold onto an offense regardless of what it is, there are severe repercussions.

One of the main ones is giving an entry way to the devil and his demonic kingdom. God tells us in Matthew 18:34-35, “And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.” Unforgiveness will give the enemy the legal right to invade our space and cause chaos. Why? Because of failure to forgive your brother or sister has a consequence attached to it, demonic oppression.

Conclusion

In order for you to have an upper hand on the tactics and schemes of enemy, you need to have a full understanding of what those are. If you are only relying on your Pastor’s sermon on a Sunday morning to equip you for battle, the devil is going to eat you up and spit you out. He does not play fair and could really care less that “you didn’t know” that there were penalties to certain actions. The Word of God is unequivocally clear that we are to study to show ourselves approved having the ability to rightly divide Scripture, 2 Timothy 2:15.

We cannot allow our emotions to override our well-being spiritually, physically, mentally, and emotionally because that is what unforgiveness does. One of the best ways to overcome this demonic spirit of offense is to get into your Bible; read it, study it, and apply it. I dealt with some of these negative emotions when I first came to the Lord but the Holy Spirit had to show me that it was not acceptable to hold onto grudges regardless of the circumstance.

It was a process for me but the more time that I spent in the Lord’s Word, in prayer, and with the Holy Spirit the more I began to exhibit the fruits of His Spirit. In Galatians 5:22-23 Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” If you are ever in doubt as far as what the fruit produced by the Holy Spirit should look like, reference these verses of Scripture.

Learning how to handle the feelings that begin to rise up when someone rubs you the wrong way will allow you to break free from the grasp of the enemy. Every bit of what we need is written in the Lord’s Word, we just need to make sure that we make spending time in His Word a priority!

I am linking other blogs pertaining to this topic below:

Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 2

Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 3

The Armor of God

The Power of Your Tongue!

The Importance of Forgiveness!

What does it mean to walk by Faith and not by Sight?

7 Steps to Fighting Spiritual Oppression-Real Talk!

Why Is the Cross of Christ so Significant?

Also, get your week started right! Check out my Positive Weekly Message Series down below:

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! November 21, 2022

Positive Thinking-Get Your Week Started Off Right! November 20, 2022