Winners Overcome Offenses - Outline

Written by Harold Herring on .

Here is the teaching outline for SUNDAY NITE LIVE.  Join us at 6 PM EST.

Offense is a foul trick of the devil.

According to dictionary.com the word offense means:

“an act of stumbling; a cause or occasion of sin : stumbling block ; something that outrages the moral or physical senses.”

Julie Meyers, worship and prayer leader said:

“Offense never lets you go. You have to let it go.”

1.         Remain calm

James 1:19 AMPC

“Understand [this], my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear [a ready listener], slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry.”

Ecclesiastes 10:4 TLB

“If the anger of the ruler rises against you, do not leave your place, for calmness will lay great offenses to rest.”

I Peter 3:17-18 AMPC

For [it is] better to suffer [unjustly] for doing right, if that should be God’s will, than to suffer [justly] for doing wrong.”

2.         Love them anyway.

Matthew 5:11-12 NIV

“Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Proverbs 10:12 TLB

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”

1 Peter 4:8 AMPC

“Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].”

3.         Perception determines reality

Acts 25:8 TLB

“Paul argued in his defense, “Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I committed any offense.”

Romans 12:19 NKJV

“Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay” says the Lord.”

4.         Overlooking an offense makes you a winner.

Proverbs 19:11 MSG

“Smart people know how to hold their tongue; their grandeur is to forgive and forget.”.

Proverbs 19:11 TLB

“Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.”

Jeremiah 31:34 CEV

“. . . I will forgive their sins and forget the evil things they have done."

Proverbs 17:9 AMPC

“He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.”

5.         You don’t know what they think they know.

Genesis 31:36 TLB

“Then Jacob became angry and berated Laban. Jacob said to Laban, “What is my offense? What is my sin, that you have hotly pursued me?”

Genesis 30:27 NLT

“Please listen to me,” Laban replied. “I have become wealthy, for the Lord has blessed me because of you.”

6.         Identify the causes of offense.

Jealously is a primary cause for offense.

Matthew 13:57 TLB

“And they took offense at him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.”

Not doing what others think you should be doing can cause offense.

Matthew 17:27 TLB

“However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

Unforgiveness toward others is offensive.

Matthew 18:32-33 NLT

“Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’”

7.         Offense hurts you more than it does the other party.

John Bevere, the noted author and speaker said:

“Offense cuts you off from God. We separate ourselves from the pipeline. I've never seen anything block blessings from Heaven except offense.”

Psalm 66:18 KJV

“If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

If you have offense against anyone else. . .God will not hear your prayers.

Matthew 5:23-26 MSG

"This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.”

It’s also significant that it says the offended person should go seek out the person who has a grudge against them.

Matthew 18:35 AMPC

“So also My heavenly Father will deal with every one of you if you do not freely forgive your brother from your heart his offenses.”

You never want your offense to become a stumbling block for someone else.

2 Corinthians 6:3 AMPC

“We put no obstruction in anybody's way [we give no offense in anything], so that no fault may be found and [our] ministry blamed and discredited.”

Colossians 3:12-14 MSG

“So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. Be even-tempered, content with second place, quick to forgive an offense. Forgive as quickly and completely as the Master forgave you. And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.”

We should be quick to forgive an offense.

Matthew 18:15 NLT

“[Correcting Another Believer ] “If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back.”

James 5:16 AMPC


“Confess to one another therefore your faults (your slips, your false steps, your offenses, your sins) and pray [also] for one another, that you may be healed and restored [to a spiritual tone of mind and heart]. The earnest (heartfelt, continued) prayer of a righteous man makes tremendous power available [dynamic in its working].”

Once last quote by Joyce Meyer who said:

“Most of us have hoped and prayed for something to happen a certain way, but it didn't. And when this happened, we had a choice to make: to react with offense toward God or to trust Him anyway.”