Greetings in the Strong Name of Jesus!

Offense and Hatred
II Samuel 13:29 - “So at Absalom’s signal they murdered Amnon. Then the other sons of the king jumped on their mules and fled.” NLT

This is a fascinating account of a young man who took up an offense for his sister and something went terribly wrong.  There are a number of insights that come from this account in scripture. I want to take some time to look at as many as I can over the next several weeks.  I'm sharing briefly this week as I have shared a testimony from one of our own at the end of this email.

First and most important is this - Absalom took up the offense of his sister.  Some might say this was a good thing after all she was raped and then mistreated by her half-brother.  We should always passionately stand for the right things and protect the interests of others, but to take the law into our own hands is a whole different story with a whole different end.  Absalom decided to do just that.  According to scripture, Absalom immediately developed a hatred for Amnon and set about taking care of righting the wrong done to Tamar.

To be offended is a choice we make.  How are we offended?  When we perceive we or someone else has been hurt with words or actions.  Jesus taught a hard truth - “...love those who curse you and pray for those who mistreat you.”  Luke 6:28. Why is this hard? Because our lives are about “us”.  We easily lose sight of the bigger picture when our feelings are hurt or we are mistreated.  What is the bigger picture?  Part of the bigger picture is this - hurting people hurt people.  Based on this truth we should ask; “How can I help the one who is hurting me?”  Too often we never ask that question and simply pursue making ourselves feel better by thinking about how to get even, at worst, or rationalizing our anger, and eventually, our hatred for them.

Absalom was very short-sighted - take care of little sister’s hurts...and it led him in completely the wrong direction.  More next time.

You are loved and prayed for,
Pastor Roger