The need to quit being offended

When we read about Jesus’ life, we marvel at how He always exhibited extreme calm and wisdom, no matter how much others reviled, attacked, or mistreated Him. How can we, as His followers, overcome our natural instincts to feel offended when insulted and love others like our Saviour does?

(See Chinese versions: 简体中文 > 须要克服被冒犯 | 繁體中文 > 須要克服被冒犯)

 

Colossians 1:21-22,26-27 ESV  And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him… the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

1 Peter 2:23 ESV  When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Jesus was shamefully treated but did not take offence 

Let’s take a look at how Jesus was mistreated. We see that He was:

• Accused of having a demon in Him | John 8:49 ESV  Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor my Father, and you dishonor me.
• Betrayed | John 18:2-5 ESV  Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place, for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, having procured a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. Then Jesus, knowing all that would happen to him, came forward and said to them, “Whom do you seek?” They answered him, “Jesus of Nazareth.” Jesus said to them, “I am he.” Judas, who betrayed him, was standing with them.
• Mocked | Luke 18:32 ESV  For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon.
• Slapped | John 18:22-23 ESV  When he had said these things, one of the officers standing by struck Jesus with his hand, saying, “Is that how you answer the high priest?” Jesus answered him, “If what I said is wrong, bear witness about the wrong; but if what I said is right, why do you strike me?”
• Spat on | Matthew 26:65-68 ESV  Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.” Then they spit in his face and struck him. And some slapped him, saying, “Prophesy to us, you Christ! Who is it that struck you?”

Yet we don’t see Jesus becoming irritated, indignant, resentful, angry, or wounded when He was wrongfully attacked. He did not try to defend Himself before those who brought false charges against Him. He had committed no sin in attitude, thought, or action, yet Jesus even respectfully addressed His betrayer as “friend” — not meaning that Judas was a genuine friend, but as a polite greeting to an acquaintance.

Matthew 26:48-50 ESV  Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, “The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.” And he came up to Jesus at once and said, “Greetings, Rabbi!” And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, “Friend, do what you came to do.” Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him.

We are told that Jesus suffered such indignities so as to leave an example for us to follow. Let’s read 1 Peter 2:19-24 (below) aloud and meditatively, and allow God’s Words to directly speak to us.

1 Peter 2:19-24 ESV  For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. 

This passage ends with 1 Peter 2:24, which gives us an amazing picture. That is that we are called to die to sin, including the sins that others commit against us, and made to live in Jesus’ righteousness, because He has healed us. (More on healing later in this post.)

The Lord had a crucial teaching for us about how we are to live in His righteousness. Let us read Jesus’ words in Luke 6:32-36 below.

Luke 6:32-36 ESV  “If you love those who love you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who do good to you, what benefit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, to get back the same amount. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.

This type of love is beyond human capacity. It has to come from the presence of the Lord in our hearts through His indwelling Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Strengthener and Restorer. He will never leave us “comfortless, bereaved, or helpless” in situations where people have bruised our spirits, whether maliciously or unintentionally. We need His healing in our hearts so that His love can continue to flow to others in purity and fullness. 

John 14:16 AMP  And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor–Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever—the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you. “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you. After a little while the world will no longer see Me, but you will see Me; because I live, you will live also. On that day [when that time comes] you will know for yourselves that I am in My Father, and you are in Me, and I am in you. The person who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved.

The Pharisees were offended and crucified Jesus

Let’s compare Jesus’ attitude and actions with that of the Pharisees. 

The Bible records that the Pharisees were offended by Jesus’ admonishments, teachings, and popularity. It didn’t help that Jesus had openly denounced them as blind guides, blind fools, blind men, hypocrites, children of hell, brood of vipers, and serpents (Matthew 23:16-33) because of their hard, unrepentant hearts. Such names would naturally cut deeply into anyone’s heart, but instead of reflecting and being blessed by Jesus’ reproach and correction, they viciously retaliated.

Matthew 15:12-13 ESV  Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up.

Matthew 11:4,6 ESV  And Jesus answered them, “… blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

The Pharisees were so offended by Jesus that they deviously plotted to hand Him over to the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, for crucifixion. When Pilate could not find a reason to crucify Jesus, they then demanded that a notorious prisoner named Barabbas be released in exchange for Jesus, and that Jesus be the one crucified instead. 

Matthew 27:20-23 ESV  Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barabbas.” Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified!” And he said, “Why? What evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified!”

This should be very eye-opening for us as Jesus’ followers. 

Some of the lessons we can learn from Jesus’ experience include:

• The need for humility and wisdom | God can send us messengers to bring His truth in ways that may feel very offensive to us. It takes humility to listen to and discern if their messages are from God or not, because what they say may actually save our lives. (The Pharisees did not discern that Jesus was the beloved Saviour they had been waiting for.)
• The danger of following our emotions | Offences can provoke strong emotions. We can be misguided by such strong emotions to commit terrible sins and make grave mistakes, even to the point of crucifying whatever salvation that God has for us.
• The temptation to justify retaliation | Offence causes us to justify hateful measures. We can decide to choose what is wilfully sinful (Barabbas) over God’s salvation (Jesus).

The apostle Paul points out some things that come with such blinded pride and conceit. These are “quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, and disorder,” which are apt descriptions of the Pharisees’ behaviour.

2 Corinthians 12:20 ESV  For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder.

Be passionate about God’s interests, not our own

Even though Jesus did not retaliate when He was personally reviled and mocked, we do see Him reacting and taking action on one occasion. Jesus was deeply offended when God’s own people turned the Lord’s Temple into a marketplace. It says in John 2 that “passion for God’s house consumed Jesus.” Jesus calmly made a whip from some ropes and chased the merchants out of the temple.

John 2:14-17 ESV  In the Temple area he saw merchants selling cattle, sheep, and doves for sacrifices; he also saw dealers at tables exchanging foreign money. Jesus made a whip from some ropes and chased them all out of the Temple. He drove out the sheep and cattle, scattered the money changers’ coins over the floor, and turned over their tables. Then, going over to the people who sold doves, he told them, “Get these things out of here. Stop turning my Father’s house into a marketplace!”  Then his disciples remembered this prophecy from the Scriptures: “Passion for God’s house will consume me.”

The Pharisees were also passionate. Their passion, however, was for their own personal reputations and positions, even though they made a big show about defending God’s Law and His temple.

This contrast between Jesus and the Pharisees teaches us to be careful how we use our passions for God’s Kingdom and to test our own hearts regularly.

Offence will increase in the Last Days

The Bible warns us that offence will increase in the Last Days. People will be “lovers of self, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit.” Social interactions will be less and less about honouring others, but gratifying oneself at the expense of other people. This should not be surprising, given the exponential increase in broken families and (emotionally and/or physically) absent parents. Many have grown up set adrift to find their own way, with the media providing a form of “pseudo” parenting that comes without a moral compass.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 ESV  But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

God, in His goodness, prepares us for greater offence in this age by warning us so we will not be taken by surprise. In fact, we can see that the everyday offences we encounter now help prepare us to stand up to and face greater persecution in the future for our faith, and train us to respond with God’s grace and mercy. 

1 Peter 4:12 ESV  Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

The question is, how ready are we to face an increasingly onslaught of offence and persecution?

Here is a list of questions to test how ready we are:

• Are we willing to be reviled and persecuted for being a follower of Jesus? | Matthew 5:10-11 ESV  “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.
• Are we willing to bless those who falsely accuse us? | 1 Peter 3:9 ESV  Do not repay evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary, bless, for to this you were called, that you may obtain a blessing.
• Are we willing to hold our tongue when others verbally attack us? | James 3:2 ESV  For we all stumble in many ways. And if anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able also to bridle his whole body.
• Are we willing to rejoice in our sufferings? | Romans 5:3-5 ESV  Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
• Are we willing to be respectful in speech and attitude towards all rulers and authorities? | Titus 3:1-2 ESV  Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
• Are we willing to allow others to take advantage of us and not resist, if that is God’s will for those specific instances? | Matthew 5:38-39 ESV  “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.
• Are we willing to receive correction and reprimand, even in public, unlike the Pharisees? | Colossians 3:16 ESV  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

How did you fare in your answers? How prepared are you for offences and persecution?

Turn offences into opportunities

1. Offences allow us to shine God’s light in a dark world

It is helpful to remember that as the world gets darker and more wicked (see Bible prophecies in Isaiah 5:20, Romans 1:18-32, 1 Timothy 4:1-4, 2 Timothy 3:1-7), any glimmer of light will stand out more brightly than normal. 

In other words, it is when people are exceptionally evil and offensive that just the slightest act of kindness will stand out and be remembered. This is the case with the most powerful testimonies. Our acts of kindness can convict others’ hearts that Jesus is truly alive in our hearts and that He is the same God who will love and forgive them too. The Bible calls this the act of “heaping burning coals on their heads.”

Romans 12:19-21 ESV  Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

2. Offences allow us to demonstrate God’s grace

We are all benefactors of God’s loving grace. God’s grace says, “I will give you something you do not deserve.” Responding calmly and respectfully to offensive words and actions from other people is the same — we give others what they do not deserve because we first received the grace of God that we did not deserve ourselves. We do this not because we are weak, but because we honour, revere, and love God first.

Colossians 4:6 ESV  Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

God exalts the humble but opposes the proud. As we humbly submit all our battles with offensive people to the Lord — no matter how much our flesh cries out for revenge or vindication right here and right now — He will remember us and lead the battle charge for us. We are told to “never avenge ourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.” God will not forget how we have suffered. As Psalm 121 says, our help will come from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

Matthew 23:12 ESV  Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Psalm 56:8 ESV  You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. Are they not in your book?

Psalm 121:1-8 ESV  I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

3. Offences test our faith and resolve

Jesus was supremely confident that His Father God would always be on top of all matters, so much so that He was not offended by the people who attacked Him, because He knew that God would not allow Him (or us) to be tempted beyond what we can bear. 

1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV  No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Like Jesus, our faith and love for our all-sovereign God cannot be validated unless it is tested, even if it is tested severely at times. Each offence is therefore a test of our resilience and faith in God’s good plans for us. Will we choose to follow God’s command to “love our enemies?” Or will we follow our passions and desires to despise and hate them — when it could actually be an opportunity from the Lord that He meant for us to use to demonstrate that we belong to Christ?

Galatians 5:24 ESV  And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

When we are offended by what others do, we are confronted with an all-important question, “Will I allow this offence to lead me, as if there is a hook in my nose, to angry resentful places, or will I turn to the Holy Spirit for strength and guidance and be kept free of offence and bitterness?” When we turn to the Lord, we will experience “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding.” When we are led by that hook in our nose, we lose this peace. Not only that, our hearts and minds will wander unguarded to dangerous places — places where Satan has planted many traps for believers to fall into.

Philippians 4:5-7 ESV  Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Satan’s strategy to use offence to manipulate God’s people

Offence tends to lead to stressful, angry emotions that set off chemical changes in our brains, particularly when we continue to stew in anger. In short, certain neurotransmitters get over-activated in our brains that in turn, reduce the brain’s capacity to think soberly and over-stimulate the emotional parts of the brain. The brain’s inbuilt ability to consider the consequences of our behaviours, as well as to empathise and connect with others, are both severely reduced. We can become stuck in emotion-driven interpretations of events and react in ways that we may later regret. 

Is it any wonder that God’s Word reminds us to “be sober-minded and watchful because our adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour?”

1 Peter 5:8-10 ESV  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Like prowling lions, the devil and demons wait patiently for such opportunities to pounce and infect our hearts and minds with poisonous thoughts such as, 

• “How dare they do this to me?”
• “I can’t let them away with this!”
• “I will show them who is better/right.”
• “If I don’t fight (retaliate) for myself, no one else will.”
• “I will show them what the righteous (like me) will do.”
• “I will hold on to my anger until I am appeased by something they do.”
• “I will never forgive them,” and so on.

As our anger gets fuelled by such hellish thoughts, our brain’s ability to think rationally is impeded even more. Our enemy will then feed us with even more “emotion-driven interpretations of events” to manipulate us into repaying evil with evil. We start to judge and condemn, we curse and slander, we quarrel and pick fights, we seek revenge.

Instead of patiently enduring evil and overcoming evil with good, we become captured by Satan to do his evil will. The score in such an instance is, Satan 1, self 0, and the Holy Spirit is grieved.

2 Timothy 2:24-26 ESV  And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

Ephesians 4:30-31 ESV  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.

Our feelings of offence can reveal the inner workings of our hearts

Facing offensive people can be extremely upsetting. It can provoke emotions that are beyond our control. These range from feeling annoyed, indignant, disgusted, and outraged to feeling stabbed, insulted, and hurt. We can feel physical sensations in our bodies, such as light-headedness, nausea, and stabbing pains in our chest.

To respond in anger can feel empowering, in an almost sensual, self-satisfying way. This is because of the chemicals it releases into our bodies, but we need to be careful not to be ruled by our chemicals. Rather we need to be ruled by our conscious thoughts and sensible choices. The Bible shows us that “good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offence.”

Proverbs 19:11 ESV  Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.

We see that God gets upset as well. He is a righteous judge who feels indignant about people’s grievous sins every day — but yet He does not sin. Similarly, we are called to be angry and not to sin. This starts with acknowledging our hot emotions, before making a conscious choice to forsake wrath and not let the sun go down on our anger, so we “give no opportunity to the devil.”

Psalm 7:11 ESV God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day.

Psalm 37:8 ESV  Refrain from anger, and forsake wrath! Fret not yourself; it tends only to evil.

Ephesians 4:26-27 ESV  Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil.

In many instances, we can become offended by people simply because they pushed our (wrong) buttons. They may not have been aware of our sensitivities, and ironically, neither are we sometimes! They may not have malicious intentions, but our anxieties, wounds, idols, and personal doctrines mean that our perspectives are coloured and our judgments clouded. 

When an offence has the power to hold us in bondage to hot emotions and Satan’s manipulation, it is crucial we seek the Lord for salvation before we become the devil’s lunch. Here are some ways we can examine our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit for His loving healing and restoration. 

Touching our hidden anxieties

• Are we reacting defensively out of some hidden anxiety about our identity and self-worth?

Touching our unhealed wounds

• Are we experiencing heightened emotional reactions because we have been hurt by similar incidents/people in the past and are being triggered by old unhealed wound/s?
• Do we have difficulty receiving corrections because of issues with authority figures?

Touching our sacred idols

• Are we defending something or someone that is even more important to us than following Jesus?
• Are we upset when people don’t do things our way or agree with our way?
• Are there things we are jealous about?

Touching our sacred doctrines

• Are we upset about things that upset our personal life values or inner vows?
• Are we upset by mismatched expectations of how things should be done?

Receive God’s healing 

No one lives as a hermit. Every one of us will encounter offence at one point or another because we live in a fallen world with broken sinful people. The offences that cut the deepest are often church hurts. We naturally set higher expectations for followers of Christ or spiritual leaders, and can forget that only Jesus is perfect. Our hearts are kept safe when our eyes and expectations are set on Jesus first, not on people. After all, “it is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man.” Please see A prayer to forgive believers at church who have wounded us.

Psalm 118:5-9 ESV  Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free. The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? The Lord is on my side as my helper; I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man. It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.

Let us remember that believers all around the world go through “the same kinds of suffering” as we do. The comforting reassurance and promise for believers is that after we have suffered, the Lord will Himself come to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish us, as the following testimony demonstrates.

1 Peter 5:8-10 ESV  Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

It takes self-discipline, however, to hold back and not let our emotions take over our thinking ability. It is so important to choose to be still before the Lord and seek the Holy Spirit’s counsel, comfort, and restoration. Offences leave invisible bruises and slashes in our spirits, and it is the Holy Spirit who will revive our spirits and give us new life.

Proverbs 29:11 ESV  A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back.

When we are cognisant that Jesus Christ is in us through the gentle whispers of the Holy Spirit, we will not fall for emotional outbursts and demonic manipulation that easily. In fact, we will even feel led to forgive offences quickly and bless our offenders, just as Jesus would. It is in forgiving others that our hearts are protected, and in wisely drawing boundaries with toxic people that our emotional and spiritual well-being are preserved.

Psalm 37:7 ESV   Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him; fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices!

Matthew 6:14-15 ESV  For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV  Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

For more on inner healing, please refer to the sections on this website on emotional wounds and emotional self-discipline.

On drawing boundaries with toxic persons, please see Avoiding infections from toxic people and Toxic parents who bring us pain.

Also, see Responding to interpersonal conflict between believers

Testimony

The Lord kindly comforted me after a friend said some very hurtful words to me one time. 

As we were having dinner, she began to attack me and call me cruel names. She had been upset with me for gently suggesting that yoga was a spiritual discipline based on Hinduism and that as Christians, we should not take part in it. 

Her remarks cut very deeply and I felt hot anger start to boil up inside me, but I felt the Lord tell me to apologise to her. In obedience, I composed myself as much as I could and told her I was sorry for the way I had made her feel judged and that I hoped she would forgive me, because I cared for her. My friend’s attitude softened after this and she changed the subject. 

I finished dinner feeling brokenhearted and left fighting back tears. The attacks were vicious.

The next day, the Holy Spirit led me to read Psalm 23, where I was reminded that the Lord is my Shepherd who restores my soul. As I read that psalm, I felt the Lord’s loving presence. It was comforting to know that He had seen what had happened during the dinner and was reassuring me that He would continue to lead me. I immediately felt lighter and relieved. Thank God!