Responding to Offense with Grace and Love

### Quotes for Outreach

1. "Opportunities to be offended are unavoidable. They are inevitable. Jesus said, it is impossible. We're not getting out of this life without experiencing them. But holding an offense, now that's a whole different matter. That's a choice. That's a choice that we make. So the, the question is not who's going to do the offending, the unwashed, unclean, unsaved swordfish and pufferfish out there. It's all of us. The better question is this. How long will we allow the offense to remain?" [09:46] (31 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "Be purposeful in your thoughts. Your mind is always eavesdropping on what you invite in and also what you allow to stay. I could have easily said, well, my way, first here, go there, go there, was right. It's no big deal. I mean, her way, whatever, just get over it. I didn't want that to stay. I didn't want to give the devil a foothold. We need to evaluate ourselves. We need to evaluate our thoughts critically before we allow them to stay, before we allow them to have a room, a place, an opportunity inside of us." [17:10] (36 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Cultivate a thick skin and a soft heart. Proverbs 19.11 says this. Wisdom yields patience. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense. From the book of wisdom, from the book of Proverbs, a person's wisdom yields patience. It is to one's glory to overlook an offense. This verse should be mandatory memory verse material for every Christian. Get this sucker on a magnet on your fridge. Put this on a post-it note on your bathroom mirror. Walk this out. The strongest Christians I know walk this out. Practice the habit of overlooking offenses." [18:57] (39 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Matthew 5, 44 says this. But I tell you to love your enemies and pray for anyone who mistreats you. Jesus tells us to love our enemies. And that instruction is not just for the benefit of those who have offended us. Those who have done us wrong. It's actually for us as well. Because in walking this out, in running counter to how the culture operates, that says, I'm going to give them a piece of my mind. I'm going to get something off my chest. If we pray for them, we are actually declaring that we are his." [19:41] (35 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "It's hard to stay angry at someone if you are praying for them. Just let that first sentence sink in. It's hard to stay angry unless you feel superior. And it's hard to feel superior if you're actually praying for them. It's a wonderful loop because since in prayer, you approach God as a forgiven sinner. If we approach God filled with self-righteousness, then it's going to sound like this. God, we know you're primo, number one, and I'm pretty good too. So you're one, I'm 1A. Let's go pray for number thousand who's done me wrong as a poor bozo kind of thing. No, we approach God as a forgiven sinner." [23:42] (50 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


### Quotes for Members

1. "All of us can and do open our mouths and at times sound controlling. At times sound critical. At times sound arrogant. All of us can and do open our mouths and at times sound divisive or needy or stubborn. And you may be thinking, no, wait, you must be talking about all the swordfish and puffer fish out there. I mean, they're all unsaved. We're saved. I want to invite everybody to not think of people so statically saved and unsaved. The fact about the matter is we are always moving and not always in the best directions." [02:31] (41 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


2. "God can work and speak any way that he wants to. He's like God. He can speak through a burning bush. He can speak through a donkey. His preferred way to speak and move and heal and act is through people and in relationship. Let me say that again. His preferred way to move and act and speak is through people and in relationship. The enemy's preferred tactic is to get our focus off of God. quite simple, to get our focus off of God. If he can accomplish that, if he can accomplish just getting distracted from that primary foundational relationship, you can still do your hour a week on Sunday, but if he can get you not going to him for the big and the small, not going to him for the Tuesdays of life, then he says, I got you right where I want you." [12:53] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


3. "Accept that you're not going to please everyone. John 5.30, Jesus is speaking and he said this. I can of myself do nothing. This is Jesus. I mean, God, just let that first sentence sink in. I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge and my judgment is righteous because here's the kicker. I do not seek my own will. The will of the father who sent me. Are we living our lives truly for the audience of one? The experiences we have and the people that we meet and the highs and lows that we experience, we take this way. Or are we instead living our lives this way? For the impression of man, for the cultivation of a reputation." [25:36] (56 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


4. "Decide in advance not to return in kind. 1 Peter 3.9 says this. Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. This is what God has called you to do. If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, this is what God has called you to do. And he will grant you his blessings, in order to do it. This is an easy verse to read. This is a really hard verse to walk out. And I would dare say it is impossible to walk out without the power and the strength and the guide and the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our life." [29:41] (40 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)


5. "Between the offense and the response is the power to choose. Between the offense and the response is the power to choose and the choice is yours. Listen, we're all recovering from something. You live long enough, we're gonna be all in that category. We are all recovering from something or we are all currently dealing with something. And if you're here today and you haven't recovered from something or currently dealing with something, I got some bad news for you. You're about to walk into something. Choose to invite the Holy Spirit in. Choose to invite the Holy Spirit into that offense so that our response is not retaliation, not offense for offense, but rather choose in advance to respond to that offense." [37:51] (55 seconds) (Download raw clip | Download cropped clip)