6 A
SIUSLAW NEWS ❚ SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2016
Don’t take the bait of offense
Do you ever get offended?
Has someone ever hurt your
feelings, opening the door for
strife, anger or a damaged rela-
tionship?
Every day, we are presented
with multiple opportunities to
get offended. It can be as minor
as someone cutting us off in
traffic or stealing our parking
spot. Other times we can feel
deeply hurt by a friend’s rude
or harsh comment.
What many people don’t
know is that offense is one of
Satan’s greatest tools to steal
our peace and rob us of God’s
blessings.
The word “offense” comes
from the Greek word scan-
dalon. It is an interesting word
that literally describes a trap
used to hold bait in order to lure
animals.
Similarly, offense is the bait
the enemy uses to trap us. He
will use people’s words and
actions to get our minds churn-
ing and stir up our emotions.
He uses this bait to lure us into
a lifetime of bitterness, resent-
ment, unforgiveness, strife,
hatred and revenge.
I often say that Satan sets us
up to get us upset. He knows
our weaknesses and what but-
tons to push to send us over the
edge.
The good news is we are
smarter than our enemy
because we have the mind of
Christ! (See 1 Corinthians
2:16.) We can know the truth of
God’s Word and don't have to
take his bait.
In other words, when some-
body tries to give you offense,
you decide whether you take it
or not.
You may be thinking,
“Joyce, it’s so hard not to take
offense sometimes!”
I understand how you feel,
but we can refuse to be offend-
ed because God gives us self-
control, which is a fruit of the
Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23).
This means we can control
ourselves with God’s help and
take responsibility for how we
respond to life’s situations.
It’s easy to deflect our prob-
lems and place the responsibil-
ity on someone else, thinking,
If you didn’t upset me, then I
wouldn't feel this way or If you
would just do this, then I would
be happy.
But the truth is we will never
be free from any problem as
long as we’re blaming some-
body else. I'm not saying other
people don’t do anything
wrong; however, we can’t con-
trol what everyone else does,
but we can choose how we are
going to react!
First Corinthians 13:5 says
love “is not self-seeking, it is
not easily angered, it keeps no
record of wrongs” (NIV). Love
is a choice! I can choose to for-
give and let it go, or I can hold
on to the offense and let the
hurt turn into something even
worse.
For example, sometimes an
offense starts out like a paper
cut. It’s seemingly small, but if
you don’t take care of it proper-
ly, it can begin to fester. In
time, it can become infected
and cause you a lot of pain.
I can tell you from experi-
ence that it’s so much better to
take care of a problem when
it’s little. It’s good to address it
as quickly as possible before it
has an opportunity to take root
and turn into something more
serious.
I’ve learned that the quicker
I can forgive somebody, the
easier it’s going to be.
Sometimes this means being
the first one to apologize and
make peace — even if it’s not
my fault!
However, the more we do
the right thing, the easier it
gets. The quicker I forgive oth-
ers and get rid of any offense,
the more peace I have in my
life. After a while, you realize
that staying offended doesn’t
change other people or solve
your problems — it only makes
you bitter and angry.
I often say that staying mad
at someone who has hurt you is
like taking poison and hoping
your enemy will die. You don’t
hurt them at all — you only
hurt yourself!
There were times when I
would get upset with my hus-
band, Dave, and let it ruin my
entire day. I was determined to
make him pay. If he was in the
family room watching televi-
sion, I would purposely not go
in there, refusing to talk to him.
The problem was Dave did-
n’t care. He would sit and
watch sports and have a good
time while I thought I was real-
ly “getting him back.” He prob-
ably thought, Good, I can get
some quiet for a change!
Psalm 34:14 tells us to “seek
peace and pursue it” (NIV).
I’ve learned over the years
(many times the hard way) just
how valuable God’s supernatu-
ral peace really is.
Now, I absolutely refuse to
live without it! It is so much
greater than living with the
toxic results of holding unfor-
giveness in my heart.
Opportunities to be offended
will never go away, but we can
grow wise to the enemy’s tac-
tics and learn how to respond in
a godly way.
So, the next time you are
tempted to be offended, don’t
AT
To Benefit Siuslaw Outreach Services
Registration 9:00 am Shotgun Start 10:00am
Entry Fee : $89 per player or
- $320 per 4
p.m. with prayers for the
requests left in the Prayer Pole
in the garden of the Florence
Playhouse, as well as those
shared by the group.
The Heintz home is located
at 875 Seventh St.
For more information, call
541-590-0779.
Early Registration Discount if Received by August 26th: $79/Player or $290 for Team of Four
Entry forms available at Siuslaw Outreach Services, Ocean Dunes, Oregon Paciic Bank and Abel Insurance
For more info call 541 -997-2816
LOTS OF PRIZES TO WIN!
Presented by:
$5,000 Putting Contest!
One Player selected at Random
ENTER FOR A CHANCE TO WIN A FORD F150
for hole-in-one on designated hole.
Siuslaw
News
+
Breaking news,
photo galleries
and MORE!
Visit the Siuslaw News
online at
Dunes City is holding its annual
free Expo today from 10 a.m. to
3 p.m. at Dunes City Hall, 82877
Spruce St. in Dunes City.
ON THE
STREET
What do you like about the Dunes City Expo?
“It will be a wonderful community event.
It’s very educational and there will be free hot
dogs and drinks. We hope to see you there.”
—R EBECCA R UEDE
D UNES C ITY M AYOR
“I like to watch Don Delyria from the
Coquille Valley Traditional Skills Center. I
love learning about the native plants and their
uses, like making rope out of grass.”
—J AMIE M ILLS
D UNES C ITY A DMINISTRATOR
DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed above are solely those of the contributors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Siuslaw News or its advertisers.
V ACATION R ENTAL S TEPS FROM H ECETA B EACH
Coast Real Estate
Cell:
WWW.THESIUSLAWNEWS.COM
www.shoppelocal.biz
Banner Bank
Carter Brothers Construction, Inc.
Chad E. Clement, D.D.S.
Oregon Pacific Bank
The Firehouse Restaurant
1285 Restobar
Bridgewater
Florence Yamaha
Edward Jones Investments
he Siuslaw News
Siuslaw Glass & Mirror
Integrity Plumbing
Coldwell Banker/Coast
Real Estate
-
101 Mini-Storage
Elks Club
On Your Feet with a Splash
Copeland Lumber
www.florenceuuf.org or call
541-997-2840.
WORD
Eagle Sponsors
Hole Sponsors
Voth to speak at FUUF on
how to stay on speaking terms
On Sunday, Aug. 21, from
10 to 11 a.m. at the Florence
Unitarian
Universalist
Fellowship, Siuslaw News
guest columnist Wesley Voth
will deliver a message titled:
“How Do We Stay on
Speaking Terms with Those
People We Most Disagree
With?”
“We are well into an elec-
tion season that pits us against
one another. So how do we
stay on good terms with the
people we disagree with polit-
ically, religiously, culturally
and morally?” asks Voth. “To
make this ‘civility’ happen it
requires sacrifice and invest-
ment.”
The UU Fellowship, 87738
Highway 101 at Heceta Beach
Road, is wheelchair accessi-
ble.
Each service concludes with
refreshments and dialogue cir-
cle to explore the questions
that come up during each serv-
ice.
For more information, visit
person team
Fee includes Green Fees, Cart, Git Bag, Snacks & BBQ lunch by Pop’s Smokehouse
Spirituali-Tea group to
discuss begining of life
On Monday, Aug 22, at 6:30
p.m., everyone is invited to
join a group from varied spiri-
tual paths to discuss the topic:
“How Did Life Begin?”
The main goal of the Baha’i
Faith is the peaceful unifica-
tion of the entire human race.
The gathering will end at 8
take the bait! Always remem-
ber that you have a choice. You
can choose to be angry and bit-
ter... or you can decide to for-
give, believe the best of others,
and enjoy God’s supernatural
peace.
100 Hwy. 101, Florence, OR 97439
CB#11281 MLS#16200485
Price Reduced
$359,00
541-999-7317
diana@cbcoast.com