This morning, as I stepped out of my house to head to work, I was greeted by… smells. Many smells. From different houses. All at once. All assaulting my peace. Someone was boiling milk. Another was brewing coffee so strong it could probably wake the dead (or at least everyone on the staircase). And then there was the one frying an egg burnt on purpose, apparently. 

Listen… I am just a girl with hormones and four very different phases every month. And in that moment? Those smells felt personal. I found myself a little offended. Actually, I thought, ‘Do I even have the right to be offended?’ Maybe yes… Maybe no… Maybe just a tiny bit because, again, hormones. But during that 20-minute walk, something hit me: sometimes offense comes to us without us sitting down and choosing it. It sneaks up. It disguises itself. It attaches itself to ordinary moments like a staircase full of breakfast smells and suddenly our hearts react before our minds catch up.

But here’s the Lesson:

Offense isn’t always about what others do; sometimes it’s about what’s happening inside us. It’s about our season, our emotions, our expectations, our fatigue, or simply the fact that we’re navigating the wild roller coaster of womanhood.

The real question isn’t, “Do I have the right to be offended?”
The real question is, “What do I do *with* the offense when it comes?”
Do I carry it?
Do I nurture it?
Do I let it ruin my morning and my mood?
Or do I choose to recognize it, release it, and move forward in peace?

Offense will always whisper but wisdom teaches us not to listen.

At Hope Alive Initiatives, we teach on this a lot. Offense is subtle, sneaky, and spiritual. And the more we understand it, the better we become at stewarding our hearts.

Want to learn more about walking in freedom, emotional wholeness, and spiritual maturity?

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Author: Grace