"I was offended"

As a missionary I come across many different people from many different backgrounds and concerns.  One that has been coming up a lot is the challenge of being offended.  In this case, these members were offended by members.  I have thought on this topic a lot and would like to share a couple of things I have learned. 

To start off I am going to quote an apostle of Jesus Christ -Elder Bednar.  "When we believe or say we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else."

Offense is a personal choice.  If we allow ourselves to be offended then it is often blown up out of proportion and context.  We quickly start to assume it was malicious and intended.  Before we know, the spirit of contention has taken over us and the spirit has withdrawn and we are left to ourselves.

So how can we decide not to be offended?  Elder Bednar gives us the answer in reference to Psalm 199:165 he says, "Through the strengthening power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ , you and I can be blessed to avoid and triumph over offense."

That is where the power and courage come from.  I have discovered that when one chooses to be offended they run away from Christ when they know Christ is where peace and comfort will come.  Let us run to Christ.  Christ himself pleaded for us to come to him when he said, "I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."  He also said, "I am the way, the truth , and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." So will you walk towards Christ always?

We must decide to take God's challenge to Enoch.  That of, "Choose ye this day, to serve the Lord God who made you" even if someone misjudges or insults us.  I believe and have seen evident in my life that when I choose to serve the Lord with all of my "heart, might, mind, and strength" then those opportunities to distance my self from Christ are easy decisions to stay close to the one whom I was currently serving.