In our families, churches and in our world, the baggage of offense has never been more prevalent. One of the biggest weapons we've watched the devil use to destroy lives and churches, are people who carry a spirit of offense.

How do you know you’re carrying offense?

You have negative emotions in your heart towards people like, anger, bitterness, hate, pride, envy and especially unforgiveness.

Here’s the target for the devil.

The target is to get offense, bitterness and envy to affect your reasoning, so you’re not able to demonstrate the heart of God on the earth, with the measure he desires.

The devil doesn’t appear to us in a red suit, horns and a pitch fork. The Bible calls him the angel of light. He’s a deceiver.

So, he’s going to come to us with something we think has value. He has to parade his thoughts as virtuous thoughts so we embrace them.

So, the devil parades thoughts and we think we are discerning them or there’s some virtue there, but there’s no peace in those thoughts.

What’s the key here… Bitterness, jealousy, offense and envy… carry with it what might appear to be wisdom. That’s why a Christian would embrace them.

It makes us feel discerning… But it does not bare the fruit of peace, of righteous living.

How to do you get free of offense?

You have to repent for being offended.

What repentance does is, it reengages us with God’s thinking.

Then, you have to forgive those who have offended you.