A personal conviction
Some time ago, I was annoyed by the attitude of a person and was trying to justify why they should apologise for their behaviour. As I was ruminating about it, the Holy Spirit put the word “offence” in my spirit. And then the Holy Spirit went on to convict me and brought up names of several people I had taken captive in my own heart through the sin of offence. Unknown to me, over time these had become deep roots of bitterness and unforgiveness. I was startled, for I was blind to the fact that I even struggled with this deadly sin.
Today I feel the Holy Spirit impress upon my heart to write about offence and share with you the deadly sin that leads to offence and unforgiveness in the first place. I pray that if you are struggling with it, the Lord will give you a fresh revelation and give you His grace to forgive and to rise above the situation. May you be set free in Jesus’ Name.
Artwork: My daughter drew this in early 2026 as a prophetic impression the Lord laid upon her heart.
The scriptures we are going to look into
The scriptures we are going to look into are these passages: 2 Kings 19:22-23: “Who is it you mocked and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! You have mocked the Lord through your messengers.”
And again, in Acts 9:4-5: Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
“Who are You, Lord?” he said.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” He replied.
When the threat is not only against us
In the passage in the Old Testament, the King of Assyria was breathing threats on King Hezekiah and the people of Israel, pressuring them to make a compromise and making provocative statements laced with pride and ego to cause the people of Israel to shudder before this powerful king. He was threatening them into making peace with him and was making threats against them.
King Hezekiah, in 2 Kings 19, rightly recognised and acknowledged before the Lord that these threats were not against the people of Israel but against God. And instead of scheming and making clever plans against the King of Assyria, Hezekiah spreads the matter before God and makes a powerful statement in his prayer. We see this in 2 Kings 19:19: “Now, Lord our God, please save us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You are the Lord God — You alone.”
What followed was the Lord acting on behalf of the people of Israel. He sent an angel who struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians, and He struck down the King of Assyria at the hands of his own sons. (2 Kings 19:35-37)
All Hezekiah had to do, as king of Israel, was to take it humbly before God and acknowledge His rightful place. And God fought for him and on his behalf.
When God’s children are genuinely mistreated, He sees it, and He does not treat it lightly.
When anyone mistreats you, misunderstands you, or treats you unfairly, it is human to immediately want to lash out at them or to be really angry on the inside and want to stand up for yourself and avenge yourself and seek to be treated fairly. But when we are believers in Christ, we are His. When God’s children are genuinely mistreated, He sees it, and He does not treat it lightly.
This does not mean that emotions are wrong. Jesus Himself felt deeply. He wept when Lazarus died. He was moved with compassion. He felt sorrow, grief and anguish. But when He was mocked, falsely accused and mistreated, He did not allow His emotions to rule Him. He stayed surrendered to the Father. He remained silent when silence was needed. He spoke when truth had to be spoken. He was not emotionless; He was fully yielded. And this is where the Lord invites us too: not to deny what we feel, but to bring what we feel under His Lordship.
God chooses how He will respond: in the case of the king of Assyria, He struck him down. In the case of Saul, He gave him a new name, Paul, and a new purpose: to reach the Gentiles with the Gospel!
See, this is why we need to let go of offence: because God decides what becomes of that situation and what becomes of that person! In the end, He has the Glory!
The deadly sin behind offence
The Lord also revealed to me a deadly root behind offence: pride. Surprised? I was too!!
The dictionary defines pride as this: a high or inordinate opinion of one’s own dignity, importance, merit, or superiority, whether as cherished in the mind or as displayed in bearing, conduct, etc.
Pride causes us to take things into our own hands instead of handing them over to God. It causes us to play God instead of acknowledging His greatness and His will in our lives. Pride leads us to harbour ill feelings or unforgiveness in our hearts and leads us to stumble and fall. It seeks revenge. It is dark and arrogant, and causes bitterness to grow deep roots. Pride is a deadly sin and when we operate by pride, before we know it, we have drifted far from God.
Stephen’s response to injustice
Let me take you to two other examples this morning from the New Testament: when Stephen was unfairly treated by the mob of people who stoned him, this man, who was full of the Holy Spirit, did not ask God to fight on his behalf. He said these words: “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” (Acts 7:60) Why? Stephen recognised that their sin was not only against him, but before God. He also recognised that they were spiritually blind, and he prayed for them as a result.
Jesus’ response to injustice
When Jesus was treated unfairly, mocked, flogged, bruised and badly beaten, He did not ask God to send angels and fight on His behalf. He could have. But instead, He said this: “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34)
Jesus recognised the truth that every insult made against Him was made against God Himself. And He interceded on behalf of the people and asked God to forgive them.
What the Lord wants to remind us
Has someone treated you badly? Have you been misunderstood? Ill-treated? Taken advantage of? Ridiculed? Sidelined? Rejected? Perhaps by your own parents, or your spouse, or friends, or loved ones, or even colleagues? Then I believe the Lord wants to remind you of these things: firstly, when people act unjustly toward God’s children, the matter is not hidden from Him. Secondly, take your hands off this and give it to God. He decides if He will avenge or transform the person. Thirdly, recognize that unforgiveness puts a big distance between you and God. Fourthly, unforgiveness hinders our fellowship with God, affects our prayers, and can choke the fruitfulness He desires to bring through us. But when we choose to forgive, He closes in the distance between us and Him and visits us with seasons of refreshing.
Acts 3:19 says: “Therefore repent and turn back, that your sins may be wiped out so that seasons of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
May the Lord visit you with seasons of refreshing as you let go of offence and unforgiveness in your hearts and allow Him to do His work in you.
Here is a song that comes to mind as you allow the Lord to do His deep work in you:
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, You have spoken, and my heart is laid bare before You today.
I come before You with honesty and grief. I confess that I have held on to offence. I have carried hurt, replayed words, remembered wrongs, and kept people captive in my heart. (Name each person and the offense you held against them, if the Holy Spirit brings this up) Lord, forgive me. I have sinned against You by taking into my own hands what only belongs in Yours.
Remove from me the desire to defend myself, avenge myself, and prove myself right. Break the lie that I need to hold on to offence in order to protect myself. Teach me to trust You as my Defender, my Judge, my Healer, and my Father.
Today, I choose to forgive those who have offended me, hurt me, rejected me, misunderstood me, used me, or treated me unfairly. I release them from the prison I built in my own heart. I bless them in Your Name. I ask You to forgive them, heal them, and do in them what only You can do.
Lord, break every shackle of bitterness, unforgiveness, resentment, anger, and pride from my heart. Uproot every hidden root that has grown in me over time. Wash me clean. Give me a heart that is fully surrendered to You. A heart willing and obedient to follow after You. A heart that is broken, humble and surrendered before You. Restore my closeness with You.
Fill me with Your Spirit. Let Your love, mercy, and grace flow freely through the places where offence once lived. Set me free today and forever.
In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Such a deep, thought provoking meditation Helga
God bless you
Praise God that He spoke to you. All Glory to Him!
Beautiful, thanks for sharing. I have my own convictions and this really helped me and reminded me to give everything over to the Lord, so thanks.
So glad to hear that, dear Anthea!! Praise God! =)
Thank you for your perceptive look at such an important subject, Helga. This valuable sentence therein is one that we all need to take to heart from time to time, lest grievances turn to bitter gall:
“And this is where the Lord invites us too: not to deny what we feel, but to bring what we feel under His Lordship.”
Amen! May God greatly bless and guide your renewed blogging. Glad to have you back!
So glad this ministered to you, Glenn! Praise God! As the Lord leads and gives me His grace, I will continue gleaning and sharing from my quiet time with Him.
Wow Helga! This was amazing! I was touched by it. I didn’t know or forgot that take offense is a sin! I need to chew on that a bit longer. Thought it was a teaching to help to guard and protect our hearts and if not dealt with brings sin in. But goes much deeper than that! And to learn from the Holy Spirit to understand who is actually being offended. What a maturity! Thank you for bringing light into this!
Praise God for the work that He is doing in all of us. All Glory to Him! So happy you were blessed by this! =)