We have all said and continue to say, "I'm offended." You have said it and I have said it. Offended means that we are resentful or annoyed by something we perceive as an insult. How dare somebody 'insult' us, eh? We should be protected from such an affront and we hold some higher status and therefore should be insulated from insults. So 'we think' and therefore process and respond.
We all take this posture into our interpersonal communication which causes us to feel diminished when others dare disagree with us and advancing an attitude or remark that is truly 'insulting' to us. We say it 'offends.' Aren't we special? And...My, My isn't it wonderful that Facebook communication allows us 'to be offended' without leaving the comforts of our home. Being offended once required a person to get out of bed, get dressed and engage another in the public square to find insult and thus feel offended. Today, we now get it online! Hooray for instant gratification.
The reality for me is this. Let me repeat but re-phrase: 'My reality' as a Christian is this: I have absolutely no right to be 'offended.' I think one must have never insulted another and thus lived a life of purity before they can claim being offended. The only person who ever walked this earth with the right to say I'm 'offended' was Jesus Christ. The man spent three years teaching and preaching about loving and caring for your fellow man and woman. His friends betrayed Him and pompous political and religious leaders had Him brutally killed. Jesus Christ should be offended...yet He Forgives!
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