Sermon Recap

“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.” II Timothy 2:24-26 (ESV)

Pay attention to this word “snare”. The Greek word for snare is “pagis”, and it refers to a trap, lasso, or a noose. This word describes how birds are suddenly caught in a net, or animals are suddenly caught in a trap. One of the enemy’s most devastating and most efficient traps is the trap of offense.

Interestingly enough, the word “offense” - “skandalon” in Greek, can be translated as “trap”. How does bitterness and anger trap a person? When we get offended and respond incorrectly.

“Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many.” Hebrews 12:14-15

As we can see from this verse, the correct response when we are offended is to make peace with the offender. Or vice versa, you become convicted by the Holy Spirit for something you said that might have offended someone then you need to go and make it right. Listen church, a root of bitterness cannot grow in the soil of forgiveness. It’s impossible! When the ground of our hearts contains the soil of forgiveness, bitterness will die!

A root of bitterness doesn’t automatically exist. It is not something we are born with. The writer of Hebrews says that the root of bitterness grows up or springs up and causes trouble and corrupts many. A root of bitterness only gains its existence when we allow offense to spoil the fertile ground of our lives.

Key Scripture

Read through these additional passages together:

Proverbs 17:9

Luke 17:1

Matthew 7:16-20

Discussion Questions

Discuss together, pushing yourself toward transparency. The more we are authentic and humble with one another, the more we can grow in Christ.

How was I offended? How did I respond to the offense?
What have I learned from past experiences of being offended?
Knowing what scripture says about offense, how will I respond next time offense comes?

Prayer

Father in Jesus name, I ask You to forgive me of any and all offense that I may have in my heart toward anyone or anything. Today, I repent of all bitterness, anger, hatred, and malice. Holy Spirit, I ask You to pull up any roots of bitterness that I have allowed into the soil of my heart. I ask You to keep me humble and always help me to be quick to forgive others. Whenever offense comes, and I am tempted to be unforgiving, please remind me that Christ Jesus freely forgave me. Let me be quick to forgive, slow to anger, and slow to speak, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Life Application

As you pray this week, if the Holy Spirit brings something up that someone has done that has offended you that you're still holding on to, then pray forgiving that person.
If the Holy Spirit brings something to your attention that you have done to offend someone else, then you may need to go and seek forgiveness.
Lastly this week, be very intentional to let things roll off. Whether something was spoken toward you, or done to you. Let it roll off, and don’t give the enemy a foothold of offense to grab onto.

Don’t Forget!

Midweek Prayer (Wednesday’s, 9:00am) - Join in-person or online
Sunday Night Prayer (Sunday, November 7th, 6:00pm) - All church
Spend time each day in prayer
How has God been growing your faith during Awaken? Share your testimony with us!

Additional Resources

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Week 5: Empty me of offense