LOVE DOES......RESPECT: But Can Offend

It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking,  1Cor. 13:5a

²² Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter!  1Cor. 11:22


Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient,

“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”

⁸ and

“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”

They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed. 1 Peter 2:7-8

  

 

It's impossible to go through this life without offending someone.   Kids burp at the dinner table and your are offended.   You are accused of passing gas, and you are offended.   You are accused of stealing something you are offended.   You watch the news and depending on the subject matter and rhetoric you are offended.   You have come to church and because the message was so on point, you are offended because you think either they are talking about you specifically or you think information you shared is now being somehow preached without your permission.

 

Woe to the world because of offenses! For offenses must come, but woe to that man by whom the offense comes.  Now if you simply replaced the word offenses with temptation or an occasion to stumble you get what Jesus is saying.   Simply put we will have many, multiple, a plethora of opportunities to be offended but to the one who causes them....they are in trouble!   See Paul when he penned this letter loved the people of Corinth so much that he felt and obligation and unction from the Spirit to inform the of how they were bringing shame to God.   Jesus was considered the ROCK of OFFENSE because remember HE is perfect and when you tell people love their enemies, do good to them that curse you, offer someone you cloak, rejoice when you are persecuted....to them and to us...that's offensive, but Jesus is only asking us to attempt to model what He modeled before us. 

 

So this is not about living a life of purposely trying to people please....no...it's more a of a life of trying to live identical to the heart of Christ amongst people.   Instead of chiming in on the cultures rhetoric regarding ____________________________ live in such a way that people think you are weird to love people that hate you.   Live in such away that they call the police only to discover they have no charge against your love for them.  Paul later told the Galatians 5:22-23  But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives:  love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  There is no law against these things.

 

Instead of exhausting yourself trying to demonstrate all these qualities of the Spirit alive in you, focus on a few.  Maybe the ones you excel at, or the ones that you struggle at just to the glory of God!   Think of ways you can turn the negative water cooler conversations around to offer people a cool drink, since a kind answer turns away wrath.  LGLP