Do not have a high opinion of yourself

What do you do when you feel offended?

Do you call your friend for a self pity party? act with anger or sadness or do you go to God?

Sometimes it is difficult to hear from Holy spirit when we are full of ourselves.

In the last couple of weeks, I have been tested by God. He confronted me with my shortcomings/ my flaws. It started by feeling undermined by some people, unconsidered. I was so frustrated and tried to suppress my feelings because I felt there were not "Christian-like". I complained to my confidents and it was a weight in my heart that I was not able to remove.

I started to wonder why did I have to go through those diverse turmoils. I asked God why He allowed some people to behave strangely toward me. As I was asking for a word, I heard clearly “do not have a high opinion of yourself ”. At first, I was like, well God, how is it related to my problems? Am I not right to feel the way I feel? What do you mean by “do not have a high opinion of yourself? " my discontentment was legitimate.... so I thought; I was upset. As matter of fact, I was struggling with my self-esteem, how could God say to me to not have a high opinion of myself.

After a couple of days, I decided to stay still and ponder on it as I felt the Holy Spirit was trying to communicate something I was not willing to receive as I was not willing to surrender to God and listen to what he had to say. I pretended to be cordial and went over my Christian duties but deep inside me I was not well.

When you do not deal with a problem, it will deal with you.

In this case, I did not let the Holy Spirit minister to me so, in the following week, God brought the issue to the fore by exposing a pattern in my behavior at work, at church and in my personal life. I could not escape it. Everywhere I turned, the message was emphasized, even when I was watching a lighthearted video on YouTube, a recommendation on mental attitude and renewing of our mind popped up and I knew this was God speaking to me.

I surrendered and decided to meditate on Romans 12 verse 3 so I could understand why the Holy Spirit brought this verse to my mind. It is written:

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

I started to reflect and review what triggered the offence in all those situations. What was the root cause of it and why was the Holy Spirit ministering to me through this particular part of this verse: “do not think more highly of yourself”?

There is one undeniable truth, we cannot change a particular situation that has occurred and how a person treats us. In the interaction between two people, there is the truth and the interpretation of an action or the tones used, which is quite often shaped by the interlocutor's past experiences and biases. All of which are subjective and often far from the truth.

In a way, there is an offence when we perceive an action or behaviour as a disregard or an insult. I was feeling offended because of my interpretation of actions and words. I was feeling offended because I felt I was entitled to be treated in a certain way. And the prompting of the Holy Spirit was kindly telling me through this verse: “Marie, get over yourself, it is not that deep”

The root problem of those “offences” was that I was expected to be treated in a particular way, and I felt diminished when they did not meet my expectation. It hurt my pride and that was what caused me to be offended. And my attitude no matter that there was offence or not or felt I was right to feel that way or not, was displeasing to God. Pastor Vald Savchuck said offenses are a trap of the enemy that fuels pride, and lately I have been hearing God resists the proud, God resists the proud".

"Offense is a demonic trap we may feel right feeling offended we may have even circumstances confirming it and there may be other believer that can confirm you have the right to feel like this but you must understand behind the spiritual behind the visible world there are forces of darkness that are using the offence to entice you into character and habits that are not in line with God's word" Pastor Vlad Savchuk

The Bible is clear as it is written in James 4 verse 6 to 7

"“God resists the proud,

But gives grace to the humble.”

Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you."

The Holy Spirit ministered to my heart that the reason why I was offended was not only because of my pride but also because I had a problem of identity. I knew who I was supposed to be in Christ, however, my identity was not secure in Christ. Therefore the opinions, attitude and behaviour of others mattered and often affected me more than it should.

In summary, the Holy Spirit was saying to me, ``Marie, girl, get over yourself, it is not that deep. Do you really think they acted and said those things with the intention to diminish you? Even if it was their intention, don't you know who you are in Christ? What are you whining about? What if God allowed those situations to shape you for your next season or shape the other person. Do not put your expectation above God’s plan.”

You better love it, the sweet rebuke of the Holy Spirit.

If you are experiencing offence or feeling offending, I pray that you will process it with God and let the Holy Spirit minister to you regarding the situation and your attitude toward it. I pray that that offense the enemy tried to undermine your destiny with by fueling your pride will be a showcase for God to be glorified in your life. I pray that you be secure in who you are in Christ, as you are humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God, God will exalt you in due time. Amen