Offfenses
Notes
Transcript
a breach of a law or rule; an illegal act.
annoyance or resentment brought about by a perceived insult to or disregard for oneself or one's standards or principles.
Two Greek words are translated "offense": scandalon [skavndalon] and proskomma [provskomma]. Both carry the connotation of "sinfulness" or "stumbling block."
When the Bible speaks of offense, it refers primarily to some act or series of acts which lead another into sin. By themselves, offenses are generally not hurt feelings, resentment, and anger that begin as minor irritations or annoyances. We ought to be able to deal easily with these. However, irritations and annoyances have the unfortunate inclination to build into far worse bitterness and grudges, which are sins that a person has allowed himself to be led into—in many cases by his own devious
God’s warning Against offenses
God’s warning Against offenses
Matthew 18:6-7 NIV
[6] “If anyone causes one of these little ones---those who believe in me---to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. [7] Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they
Romans 14:19 NIV
[19] Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.
1 Corinthians 8:9-13 NIV
[9] Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. [10] For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol's temple, won't that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? [11] So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. [12] When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. [13] Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall.
Unlike love, pride is "touchy and fretful." When pride feels threatened, it broods against what it perceives to be hurting it or lessening its chances of "being on top," "coming out ahead" of another, "looking good," or "getting even." And so it competes against others. It looks for ways to elevate itself or put another down. It counts all the offenses, real or imagined, and puts them into a mental account book to justify its position until it finds an opportune moment to break out in "vindication" of itself.