2 Thessalonians 3:11-13, ‘We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.’
People who are bitter about life tend to spend an unhealthy amount of time nursing their bitterness. It is not the gravity of the wrong done to you or the severity of the trials life has thrown at you that determines the level at which bitterness binds you – it is the amount of time you spend harbouring it. Offence will poison you to the degree your heart feeds on it. Many people say, ‘I don’t have enough time to pray and read my Bible,’ but they have enough time for offence! Forgiveness can take a moment but offence can last a lifetime. Offence has time for you because you have time for it. Offence is not only a waste of time it is a time-waster. The offence we harbour in our hearts is hindering us from the destiny God has for us. The best antidote to the poison of offence is to keep busy with Godly service. So do what is good to change the bad you see – around you and within you.
Let this be your confession:
I don’t have time for offence because someone needs my love!
I don’t have time for bitterness because someone needs my care!
I don’t have time for resentment because someone needs my compassion!
I don’t have time for unforgiveness because someone needs my encouragement!
I don’t have time for nonsense because someone needs what God has given to me!
Prayer: Oh Holy Spirit, breathe in me, that my thoughts may all be holy; act in me, that my work too may be holy; strengthen me, to defend all that is holy; guide me that I always may be holy.