{"id":4254,"date":"2026-04-17T20:47:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/?p=4254"},"modified":"2026-04-17T20:47:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T20:47:07","slug":"how-to-handle-an-offense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/2026\/04\/17\/how-to-handle-an-offense\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Handle an Offense"},"content":{"rendered":"<body>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Proverbs-14-10\/\">Prov 14:10<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Intro:<ul><li>In the Christian life, you are going to be hurt by another Christian at some point in your life.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>It seems that everyone goes through this experience at least once.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>And some folks go through it several times.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>This lesson is about what to do when another Christian \u201cstabs you in the back,\u201d or slanders you or brings reproach.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You need\u00a0to know how to handle an offense.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t murmur and complain<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Proverbs-14-10\/\">Prov 14:10 <\/a>\u2013<ul><li>You are the only one who really understands how you feel.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Others will either minimize the pain or exacerbate the problem in siding with you against the other person.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Telling others, generally, just fans the flames and gets you more riled up than you were before.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Take it to God\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/1-Peter-5-7\/\">1 Pet 5:7<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>The Lord cares for you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Through an experience like this you will draw closer to the Lord when you cast your care on him.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Repeat, \u201cIt is Well\u201d<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/2-Kings-4-18_4-26\/\">2 Kings 4:18-26<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>These experiences are rough, to say the least.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>But you must continue to view them from God\u2019s perspective.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>When you continue to love the Lord and fulfill his purpose in your life, all is well [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Romans-8-28\/\">Rom 8:28<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Worship God<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Job-1-20_1-22\/\">Job 1:20-22<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>After all the bad news Job received in one day, he worshipped God.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>You cannot take your eyes off the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>And you cannot charge God foolishly.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Often we think God should have intervened on our behalf to prevent this incident.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Don\u2019t blame God.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t retaliate\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Proverbs-20-22\/\">Prov 20:22<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>Don\u2019t try to get even.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The Lord didn\u2019t say that he would spare you from this kind of trouble.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>He said that \u201che shall save thee.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>It shouldn\u2019t make any difference to you what God does to them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>It doesn\u2019t matter.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>He just needs to save you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Overcome evil with good<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Romans-12-19_12-21\/\">Rom 12:19-21<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>That\u2019s what Joseph did for his brothers when they came to Egypt.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>\u00a0Vengeance is the Lord\u2019s.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>He\u2019ll repay if he wants to and in the way he desires.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>That\u2019s none of your business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>I have heard people say things like, \u201c<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>That fellow crossed me a while ago, and now something bad has happened to him.<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>You see, God repaid him for what he did to me.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>That is a very cruel attitude and not at all consistent with this passage of scripture [see also <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Proverbs-24-28_24-29\/\">Prov 24:28-29<\/a>].<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Forgive and put away the bitterness<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Ephesians-4-30_4-32\/\">Eph 4:30-32<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>Forgiveness is what the Lord has given us to get over these offenses.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Forgiveness is how you put away the bitterness.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>If you don\u2019t put away the bitterness, it will become a root that springs up and defiles many, like your closest friends and family [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Hebrews-12-15\/\">Heb 12:15<\/a>].\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>The damage to them will be on you; not on the person who offended you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You should strive to be better, not bitter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Visualize heaven<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Revelation-5-8_5-10\/\">Rev 5:8-10<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>When our lives are done here on earth, we are all going to be standing and kneeling together worshipping the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>It won\u2019t matter one bit what someone has done to you when we are bowing before the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>They may be right next to you.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Praise the Lord!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Seek reconciliation<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/Luke-17-3_17-4\/\">Luke 17:3-4<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>You don\u2019t have to become enemies.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>You may be able to reconcile down the road.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Your relationship may never again be what it was but you definitely don\u2019t want to hold a grudge.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Minister consolation<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kingjamesbibleonline.org\/2-Corinthians-1-3_1-7\/\">2 Cor 1:3-7<\/a> \u2013<ul><li>Other people are going to go through something like you have been through.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You can minister to them because you understand how to get through the offense.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Conclusion:<ul><li>These steps are tried and true.\u00a0\u00a0<\/li><\/ul><ul><li>Remember them if they don\u2019t apply to your life right now.\u00a0<\/li><\/ul>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>You will certainly need them at some point down the road.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Prov 14:10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4254","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa5oei-16C","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4254"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4255,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4254\/revisions\/4255"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}