Change Your Focus
Devotional Reading: Proverbs 19:11 TPT
An understanding person demonstrates patience, for mercy means holding your tongue. When you are insulted, be quick to forgive and forget it, for you are virtuous when you overlook an offense.
Most time one might get offended easily if, relationships are often strained, have several people that you’ve cut off or cut out of your life, make assumptions from people’s actions, words, or even facial expressions, have high expectations, are easily angered from people’s words, hold on to things, find yourself easily debating with others (like on Social Media posts with strangers) and so on.
What does being offended do to us? Well, it turns our hearts away from God. The focus becomes what has been done to you versus what God has done for you. And what has God done for you? He’s given you FREEDOM!
When we are focused on how we are hurt or “wronged”, we aren’t focused on what is good. We allow bitterness to creep in and take root. We lose joy. We miss opportunities to be God’s vessel to serve others. Because what we focus on becomes our focus. It becomes our reality, our false sense of truth, our world.
Why do you think we allow these things to easily get to us? Usually, there is something deeper going on. Whether it’s pride, like we see with Simon judging the woman who washed Jesus’ feet in Luke 7, or jealousy, like we see with Martha and Mary in Luke 10, or insecurity and fear.
Sometimes we even get offended because of triggers from past wounds, childhood circumstances, or family behaviors. And somewhere along the way, we stop believing who we are IN JESUS and instead we focus on who we aren’t, and we lose sight of what matters – the eternal perspective.
When we start to engage with God in a heavenly Eternal perspective, we can focus more on HIS words and less on other people’s words. When people use words against us, but we are walking with the Holy spirit – we can experience FREEDOM from the feelings of being offended.
Prayer and Confession
Lord help me to focus on what matters, teach me to overlook any offense.
Further Reading: Ephesians 4:30, Matthew 18:15
