Living Free From Offense - Victoria Osteen

0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:02.640 You and your dog are close, like watch each other 0:00:02.680 --> 0:00:04.960 go to the bathroom close, But you could be even 0:00:05.000 --> 0:00:08.880 closer with BarkBox. Every month, BarkBox brings dogs and their 0:00:08.920 --> 0:00:12.639 humans together with original toys and delicious treatment. Sign up 0:00:12.640 --> 0:00:14.880 now at BarkBox dot com. Slash iHeart. 0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.119 No one likes to talk about money. Am I saving enough? 0:00:18.200 --> 0:00:20.239 Can I buy a house? Am I paying too much 0:00:20.280 --> 0:00:22.960 in taxes? Will I be able to retire? What if 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.600 you could unlock insights about your finances in less than 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.080 five minutes, with a clear picture of where you stand 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.880 today and where your money can work harder. Now you 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:34.000 can visit facet dot com to take the free quiz 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:38.600 and get your financial wellness score today. That's facet dot com. 0:00:38.640 --> 0:00:40.720 This ad is sponsored by fast Fast Wealth Incorporated is 0:00:40.720 --> 0:00:42.720 an sec registered investment advisor. This is not an offer 0:00:42.760 --> 0:00:44.559 to buy your self securities snoor is it investment, legal 0:00:44.680 --> 0:00:45.280 or tax advice. 0:00:46.000 --> 0:00:49.199 You're ready for a comeback, and with Purdue Global you 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:52.440 can do more than take classes. You can take charge 0:00:52.720 --> 0:00:56.760 of your story, of your career, of your life. Earn 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:58.800 a degree you can be proud of, and get an 0:00:58.920 --> 0:01:03.760 education employeer respect. It's time, Your time, not just to 0:01:03.800 --> 0:01:06.199 go back to school, but to come back and move 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:11.080 forward with Purdue Global, Purdue's online university for working adults. 0:01:11.680 --> 0:01:15.520 Start your comeback at Purdueglobal dot edu. 0:01:25.959 --> 0:01:27.560 It's good to have you in the House of the 0:01:27.600 --> 0:01:32.360 Lord today. I want to encourage us all this morning 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:38.800 to keep our heart free from offense. Offense is everywhere, 0:01:39.440 --> 0:01:42.120 Jesus said, as long as you're here, Offense will come. 0:01:43.000 --> 0:01:44.679 As long as we live in this world. 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:48.160 Someone's going to say something that we don't understand, something 0:01:48.160 --> 0:01:51.320 that hurts our feelings. Maybe your husband doesn't listen to 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:57.200 your opinion. There's always going to be reasons to take 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:00.200 up an offense, an opportunity. 0:01:59.720 --> 0:02:00.520 To take it in. 0:02:01.320 --> 0:02:05.040 You know, it's interesting because you know, the people that 0:02:05.080 --> 0:02:09.200 you're around are one thing, But how about the people 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:10.400 that you've never even met? 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:12.400 And you know what I mean by that. 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:17.760 Everybody's opinion can go public these days on social media. 0:02:18.400 --> 0:02:19.720 You begin to read. 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.720 Somebody's opinion, you hear what they're railing against. 0:02:23.360 --> 0:02:24.839 Kind of flusters you. 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:26.520 You think, I don't agree with that, Why would they 0:02:26.600 --> 0:02:30.680 say that? Then you begin getting all upset. You call 0:02:30.760 --> 0:02:33.200 your brother, you call your sister, you call your neighbor. 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:34.760 Can you believe that they think that. 0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:39.200 In that crazy you see, you begin. 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:44.440 To get frustrated and upset and spend energy on that offense, 0:02:44.880 --> 0:02:47.720 on those things that don't really even matter. 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:51.360 You See, it's as if we're taking the bait. 0:02:52.560 --> 0:02:57.440 See, we cannot take the bait of offense and live 0:02:57.480 --> 0:03:01.200 in victory, joy and peace. We gotta let it go. 0:03:02.080 --> 0:03:05.160 We can't let it get on us. We can't swallow 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:08.720 the bait. In fact, in the scripture, the word offense 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:14.800 comes from the Greek word that means bait. It was 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:19.120 used to lure animals into a trap. See, the bait 0:03:19.800 --> 0:03:23.720 or the offense was what got the animals to come 0:03:23.760 --> 0:03:27.760 on in and take the bait. And sometimes that's what 0:03:27.840 --> 0:03:30.720 happens to us with a fence. It lures us right 0:03:30.760 --> 0:03:35.240 into a trap. We get caught up in this circle 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.560 of a fence, in this trap of a fence, we 0:03:39.600 --> 0:03:42.480 get upset, we get frustrated, we get bitter because we've 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:47.240 swallowed it, hook line and sinker. So we spend our 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:51.960 time trying to figure out what somebody meant, dissecting every word. 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:55.160 That's a waste of our time. 0:03:56.080 --> 0:03:59.000 What in the world could be so important that we 0:03:59.120 --> 0:04:02.040 have to take our time to figure it all out. 0:04:02.080 --> 0:04:05.560 What in the world could someone say that would be 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:09.800 that important to your destiny if it's offensive to you? 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:11.760 Now you know what. 0:04:11.800 --> 0:04:14.720 We take up offense sometimes when no one really means anything. 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:18.559 Now that's a whole nother subject. But we're talking today 0:04:18.600 --> 0:04:20.919 about thinking twice about. 0:04:20.520 --> 0:04:22.839 Any offense, any offense. 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:27.200 We got to recognize what's happening when we're frustrated and 0:04:27.240 --> 0:04:30.039 when we're going in the circle of offense, and we've 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:32.200 got to learn to drop it and. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:32.840 Let it go. 0:04:33.360 --> 0:04:33.600 See. 0:04:33.600 --> 0:04:37.159 The quicker we let go of offense, the more free 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.800 we're going to be. The other day, I was cleaning 0:04:40.880 --> 0:04:43.680 a spot off of my carpet, so I went and 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:47.160 got some carpet spot remover. I looked on the back 0:04:47.240 --> 0:04:49.880 to see what the instruction said about it, and it 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.600 said get the spot off as quickly as you can. 0:04:53.240 --> 0:04:56.800 Why because the longer that spot's there, the harder it. 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:58.560 Is to remove. I see. 0:04:58.600 --> 0:05:02.160 That's the same way with offense. If you have a 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:06.120 stain of offense on your heart, the longer you allow 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.479 it to be there, the harder it's gonna take to 0:05:09.480 --> 0:05:10.200 get rid of it. 0:05:10.640 --> 0:05:13.919 See, But the sooner you let it go, the better 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:14.919 off you'll be. 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:19.240 Don't go hour by hour, day to day trying to 0:05:19.279 --> 0:05:20.200 figure it all out. 0:05:20.800 --> 0:05:24.320 It's not that important. If it's offended you, it's not 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:26.000 that important. 0:05:26.920 --> 0:05:32.480 Proverbs nineteen eleven says good sense makes one slow to anger, 0:05:32.920 --> 0:05:36.200 and it is to one's glory to overlook an offense. 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:40.760 Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it's to 0:05:41.240 --> 0:05:46.080 our glory to overlook an offense. You see, it's to 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:50.280 our good. It has us no good to go around offended, 0:05:50.839 --> 0:05:53.680 allowing that to take root in our heart. 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:54.520 See. 0:05:54.520 --> 0:05:55.640 If we'll get good at. 0:05:55.600 --> 0:06:00.280 Overlooking offense, we're gonna live a more satisfied and happy life. 0:06:00.920 --> 0:06:06.200 Jesus was no stranger to offense. People were constantly trying 0:06:06.240 --> 0:06:09.440 to trap him into offense. It says in Second Peter 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.320 that they hurled insults at him. 0:06:11.760 --> 0:06:12.480 You know what he did. 0:06:12.800 --> 0:06:18.640 It says he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:24.680 He didn't entrust his life, He didn't give his life 0:06:25.520 --> 0:06:32.680 his ways to some opinion, false accusations. He entrusted his 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:36.599 life to the one who was in control of his life, 0:06:37.040 --> 0:06:37.919 the one who. 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:41.920 Could judge justly. That's where he found his result. 0:06:43.279 --> 0:06:48.120 He found it by knowing other people's opinions, whether they 0:06:48.160 --> 0:06:50.000 mean it or not, don't. 0:06:49.680 --> 0:06:52.039 Have to affect him. 0:06:52.160 --> 0:06:55.160 You see, we're all going to have to learn how 0:06:55.160 --> 0:06:58.200 to let go of offense, and it is a process 0:06:58.800 --> 0:06:59.440 we're all. 0:06:59.240 --> 0:07:00.000 Going to have to learn. 0:07:00.240 --> 0:07:05.320 The apostle Paul in two Timothy fourteen four had to 0:07:05.360 --> 0:07:07.520 work at keeping a fence off of him as well. 0:07:08.680 --> 0:07:11.840 He said, Alexander the Coppersmith did me a great wrong. 0:07:13.200 --> 0:07:16.080 But God will judge him. God will take care of 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:20.000 what he's done. You see, he gave it to God. 0:07:20.880 --> 0:07:24.920 He wasn't taking the responsibility on himself to be the 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:27.240 judge and jury of everyone's opinion. 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.440 He said, I'm giving it to God. I have things 0:07:31.480 --> 0:07:31.840 to do. 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.160 I can't walk around with an offended heart. I can't 0:07:36.160 --> 0:07:39.440 walk around with bitterness and anger and expect to be 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:40.960 everything God called me to be. 0:07:41.920 --> 0:07:45.080 See, we need to have that kind of attitude. We 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:45.680 need to. 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:49.360 Turn the situation around like Paul did and turn it 0:07:49.400 --> 0:07:50.040 over to God. 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:53.960 Offense will show up, it's just how are we going 0:07:54.040 --> 0:07:54.920 to handle that offense? 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.800 When it shows up, It's gonna be there. I can 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:00.000 tell you it's gonna be there as long as you 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.720 live on this earth with people it's gonna be there. 0:08:03.040 --> 0:08:05.480 Have you ever put like a bite of food in 0:08:05.520 --> 0:08:08.200 your mouth, maybe you're gonna try something new, and it was. 0:08:08.160 --> 0:08:11.040 Like, ooh, I don't like the way it tastes, and you. 0:08:11.040 --> 0:08:13.320 Have to stop for a minute, and you're thinking, what 0:08:13.400 --> 0:08:15.720 am I gonna do? Am I gonna spit it out? 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:17.200 Or am I gonna swallow it? 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:20.160 And you're thinking, you know what, what do I do? 0:08:20.320 --> 0:08:21.400 I mean? Who am I with? 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.920 You're just thinking, right, a lot of this stuff. I 0:08:24.960 --> 0:08:27.360 have literally done that and taken my napkin and went. 0:08:29.120 --> 0:08:31.880 I know that's not very ladylike, but if there's something 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:34.000 that's hucky in your mouth and you don't want to 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:35.840 swallow it, that's kind of what you need to do 0:08:35.960 --> 0:08:41.080 is spit it out. If you ever taste the bitterness 0:08:41.240 --> 0:08:45.400 of a fence, that yucky feeling in your mouth, don't 0:08:45.440 --> 0:08:49.600 swallow it, Just spit it out in your napkin. Don't 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:53.760 let it go down in your innermost parts. We've got 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:58.240 to take a moment and think twice about taking up 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:00.880 a fence. Is it gonna ben it fits you any 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:03.280 Is it gonna make your life better? 0:09:03.600 --> 0:09:05.720 Is it gonna make you more happy? More joyful? 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.720 See You may be winding up your day at work 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.199 four o'clock a coworker leaves you out of an important meeting. 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:15.640 You have till four p fifteen to decide if you're 0:09:15.679 --> 0:09:18.960 gonna take that offense. Are you gonna spit that offense 0:09:18.960 --> 0:09:21.480 in your napkin? Are you gonna take it home with you? 0:09:22.400 --> 0:09:25.280 Are you gonna let it upset your whole day? Are 0:09:25.280 --> 0:09:28.480 you gonna let it disturb the peace in your home? 0:09:29.240 --> 0:09:32.320 What are you gonna do with that offense? We gotta 0:09:32.400 --> 0:09:36.320 learn to step back and think twice about taking an offense. 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:38.839 And John Kin, the. 0:09:38.800 --> 0:09:42.200 Scripture tells us that there were certain people in the 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:46.080 crowds when Jesus would go places that wanted to capture him. 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:49.440 They wanted to seize his life. They wanted to take 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:53.280 him and stone him. There was certain people that were 0:09:53.440 --> 0:09:57.760 always trying to strive a stir up trouble. But there's 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.600 such an important thing that it says it Jesus did. 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:02.960 And I've always kind of wondered what it said. And 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:04.880 the other day when I read it, I thought. 0:10:04.880 --> 0:10:05.720 Could this mean? 0:10:07.280 --> 0:10:12.079 It says that Jesus would slip out of the crowd 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:15.280 and go on his way. Now I thought about that 0:10:15.360 --> 0:10:17.280 just a minute. Here's some people in the crowd that 0:10:17.320 --> 0:10:19.640 were trying to seize him and trap him. But he 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.240 like slipped away and moved on. 0:10:23.640 --> 0:10:26.640 And I thought about, you know what Jesus did. 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:30.800 He wasn't playing Houdini, he wasn't being some magic man. 0:10:32.160 --> 0:10:35.240 He didn't give in to their opinions. He didn't go 0:10:35.360 --> 0:10:38.920 try to defend himself. He didn't stir up strife. He 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.800 didn't say, Peter and John, why are they being so unfair? 0:10:42.000 --> 0:10:43.760 Will you go over there and talk to those people. 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:49.640 No, he ignored the opinions of others, and he moved 0:10:49.720 --> 0:10:53.520 on his way. He literally slipped through the fingers of 0:10:53.640 --> 0:10:58.440 a fence and moved on. Because Hee nobody captured Jesus' life, 0:11:00.080 --> 0:11:05.880 old buddy could capture him. Jesus gave his life. He 0:11:06.000 --> 0:11:08.880 made the decision to lay it down. He didn't allow 0:11:09.080 --> 0:11:12.679 anybody to change the course of his destiny by offense, 0:11:13.160 --> 0:11:17.480 by insults. He said, no, I've got an assignment from God. 0:11:17.760 --> 0:11:21.160 I wanna entrust my life to the one who judges justly. 0:11:21.880 --> 0:11:22.960 And can I tell. 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:25.960 You You've got to slip through the fingers of offense 0:11:26.000 --> 0:11:28.679 if you're gonna move on your way. If you're gonna 0:11:28.720 --> 0:11:32.000 keep going to those places that God has you, nothing 0:11:32.080 --> 0:11:33.160 is that important to. 0:11:33.120 --> 0:11:35.800 Waste your time. Listen. 0:11:36.840 --> 0:11:40.840 If offense can't upset you, offense can't control you. 0:11:41.920 --> 0:11:43.760 And if offense can't control. 0:11:43.440 --> 0:11:46.120 You, you're gonna be free to live a life of 0:11:46.200 --> 0:11:47.760 joy and victory. 0:11:48.040 --> 0:11:49.480 Shake off any offense. 0:11:50.920 --> 0:11:53.840 You have a decision to make today, give it to God. 0:11:55.200 --> 0:11:58.480 Live happy, healthy and Paul. Amen. Amen. 0:12:00.880 --> 0:12:03.280 As a thank you for your support of our ministry 0:12:03.280 --> 0:12:05.680 this month, Jewel and Victoria, I would like to send 0:12:05.720 --> 0:12:09.079 you a copy of Joel's new three message series, Favor 0:12:09.120 --> 0:12:12.800 of God. You were not created to barely get by. 0:12:12.880 --> 0:12:17.520 You were highly favored and were created to thrive. Request 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.960 your copy of Favor of God today at jeelostein dot 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:24.400 com or call eight eight eight five six seven Jewel. 0:12:25.200 --> 0:12:27.680 It may feel like the odds are against you. You 0:12:27.720 --> 0:12:31.400 don't have the connections, the experience, the talent, But one 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:33.720 touch of God's favor will take you to a whole 0:12:33.720 --> 0:12:34.200 new level. 0:12:34.600 --> 0:12:38.480 Stay encouraged. You have an advantage. You have the favor 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:38.920 of God. 0:12:39.320 --> 0:12:43.599 David said, God has crowned you with favor. Request this resource. 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.640 It will help you to live favor minded and believe 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:48.319 for the fullness of your destiny. 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:50.720 Eleven years ago, we were trying to add another child 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:53.400 to our family. We soon found out that my wife 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:56.560 had some medical issues. What we've learned through this ministry 0:12:56.800 --> 0:12:58.840 is that God is the god of the impossible. Not 0:12:58.920 --> 0:13:00.920 only is my wife healed and we were able to 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:03.320 add a little baby girl to our family, but just 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:05.199 recently we've added a baby boy. 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.400 Your support is changing lives. Thank you for your prayers 0:13:09.440 --> 0:13:12.560 and generosity. We couldn't do it without people like you. 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:15.280 If you would like to partner with us to take 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:18.040 hope around the world, go to the website and find 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:21.400 out how together we can make a difference. Victoria and 0:13:21.440 --> 0:13:24.320 I pray for you every day. Believe in twenty seventeen 0:13:24.400 --> 0:13:27.240 will be your best year so far. Until we meet again. 0:13:27.520 --> 0:13:30.920 Remember you're not average, You're not mediocre. You're a child 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:32.199 of the most High God. 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:45.640 Be a barbecue Hero with delicious ultralow netcar Hero bread 0:13:45.720 --> 0:13:49.200 buns and tortillas, soft and fluffy, high in fiber, and 0:13:49.280 --> 0:13:51.520 with zero grams of sugar and up to ten grams 0:13:51.520 --> 0:13:54.760 of protein, coming in at under one hundred calories per serving. 0:13:55.040 --> 0:13:57.200 Oh and did I mention they taste like their mouth 0:13:57.240 --> 0:14:00.520 watering traditional versions. It's enough to have the neighbors asking 0:14:00.520 --> 0:14:03.560 for seconds. Use code iate to M ten for ten 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:06.480 percent off your first hero Bread purchase at hero dot Co. 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:09.880 That's I eight and ten for ten percent off at 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:10.640 hero dot Co. 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.400 Enhance your child's reading journey with the Good and the 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:18.000 Beautiful's Reading Booster program. Choose from three all in one 0:14:18.120 --> 0:14:21.800 kids for kindergarten, first or second grade at reading booster 0:14:21.960 --> 0:14:25.800 dot com. Each kit includes reading cards, books and games 0:14:25.960 --> 0:14:29.520 designed to create fun ways to learn phonics, site words, 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:33.120 and vowel sounds. There's even a free, ad free app 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:36.680 with additional games and KidSafe content. Bring home a love 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:39.680 of learning with the Good and the Beautiful visit reading 0:14:39.760 --> 0:14:40.840 booster dot com. 0:14:40.880 --> 0:14:44.160 Today, more than ever before, people are turning to the 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.800 church for their mental health struggles. Unfortunately, the church has 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.120 largely been ill equipped to help. That is until now. 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:54.640 Join yourly fifty thousand people just like you who've enrolled 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.800 in the Mental Health Coach training program and become equipped 0:14:57.840 --> 0:15:00.440 to help for a limited time. Apply for a full 0:15:00.520 --> 0:15:03.360 tuition scholarship and only pay a one time tech fee 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:07.200 of fifty four dollars if accepted. Apply now at mentalhealth 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:11.000 coach dot org. Again, that's mentalhealthcoach dot org.