What to Do When Other Christians Hurt You — 8 Responses

In cases of repeated abuse, which I’m not addressing in this post, getting others involved is often wise and necessary.

Forgiving someone doesn’t mean you should enable that person to commit a crime or continue to devastate the lives of others.

(7) To be offended by a child of God is to be offended by God.

When Jesus began preaching in His hometown of Nazareth, He offended His neighbors. They stumbled over Him and rejected who He really was.

When you choose to take offense at another Christian, you are rejecting who they are in Christ. Thus it affects your relationship with Jesus, whether you realize it or not. Why?

Because Christ and His body are connected, so “if you’ve done it to the least of these my brethren, you’ve done it unto Me.”

Again, I’m not equating being offended with being hurt.

(8) You can live free from offense even when Christians hurt you.

This doesn’t mean that you will never be hurt. Nor does it mean that you will never be angry. Jesus got angry. Remember His temple tantrum? Paul said, “Be angry and sin not. Don’t let the sun go down on your wrath.”

Anger is a normal human emotion when someone abuses you or abuses someone you care about. But what you do with your anger determines whether or not it is sin.

In addition, we should always be “quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” The Lord has called us to the high road of living without offense. And He has given us both the power and the will to do His good pleasure in this area.