How many know we are in a war over our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? The absolutes of Truth is blurred. Truth has become offensive and considered hateful. Being offended is the new normal. If you disagree with someone, it now means you must hate them.
My heart is grieved by what I see and hear.
The old adage says if you hear something over and over you begin to believe it. For example - if while you were growing up you heard from your parents, you won’t amount to anything, you’re lazy, you’re a bum, you eventually believe it and your life follows suit. Conversely, if you have a teacher in school that believes in you and is your best cheerleader telling you how great you are at writing, you most likely would grow up to be a great author.
Wikipedia says this: The illusory truth effect (also known as the validity effect, truth effect or the reiteration effect) is the tendency to believe information to be correct after repeated exposure.
What we are being exposed to through Main Stream Media and Social Media is in direct opposition to real Truth! Biblical Truth! This is very serious. If you watch media, you are being exposed to half truths which are really lies!! That may sound harsh but it’s true. Even Satan knows the word of God and twists it just enough to lead us into deception.
When I heard that offense breeds deception, it put the fear of God in me in a new way. If we are in offense, then we are setting ourselves up to be deceived. When we are deceived, we are completely oblivious to the Truth. When we are oblivious to the Truth, we fall into all sorts of deception. It’s a vicious cycle and one I don’t want to be in. Do you? The problem is when we are being deceived, we DON'T KNOW that we are being deceived!
HURT PEOPLE - HURT PEOPLE ....... HURT COMES FROM OFFENSE.
This war we are in - between good and evil - its about truth vs deception. It is not against flesh and blood. Eph 6. It is a battle that we must fight on our knees and on our faces. It must start within our own hearts and minds. We need to seek the Lord and ask Him to reveal any hidden offense. Ask Him what are our blindspots? Where are we being deceived? When He tells you, then do whatever it takes to get out the gray and get aligned with the Word of the Lord. Forgive and pursue love! Don’t minimize this. We will get offended. There is no doubt there. What you do with the offense will dictate your future.
HEALED PEOPLE - HEAL PEOPLE.....HEALING COMES FROM THE LORD.
The only One we should be worrying about being offended is the Lord!
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Let me share a quick story and then I’ll tie it back in. When we used to go out to eat and a waitress would come to the table in an obvious bad mood, we used to say, wow what’s eating her? Fast forward to our Christian walk - now when we have a waiter or waitress come to our table upset or rude, we stop and take the time to ask them how we can pray for them. 9 times out of 10, they didn’t even realize they were in an “attitude”. And often they will share something personal they need prayer for. This also sets us up to ask the Lord for something specific to encourage them.
So, my point in all this - is this. There are many many hurting people out there. There are angry, broken and lost people out there. There are quite a few that are being deceived in some way or another. Some might be in your family, your neighbor, co-worker or even those in MSM. They may have been told all their life or more often than not, that they should believe a certain way. The wrong way may be all they know.
Our role as believers is to pray for them. Love our enemies and bless them. Ask the Lord to open their eyes and ears to see and hear Truth. Our job is to speak the Truth in LOVE to them and allow the Holy Spirit to convict and change their hearts. You know the song, they will know that we are Christians by our love!!
Our response to their words or actions should always be in love. Speak the Truth in love, but don't argue with them. It's the Lord's kindness that leads them into repentance.
Media has done enough damage using illusory truth. Maybe Christians should use the same illusory truth, but with a different approach. What if we were the ones who were consistent in showing the truth of God's love to a hurting world? What if we spoke only words of encouragement and blessing. Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. Ephesians 4:29 WHAT KIND OF IMPACT WOULD WE LEAVE ON THEM!
I end with a song that is coming to mind…. Great reminder for us all.
It's true we'll make a better day, just you and me, ooh-hoo!