The Bait of Offense: Guarding Our Words and Our Hearts
In this hour, we as leaders must humble ourselves and remember—we are not greater than our Lord and Savior. Jesus was persecuted, and we will be too. Yet so many in the body of Christ are stumbling because of offense.
Matthew 11:6 says, “And blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.”
Offense is one of the enemy’s most effective traps. It divides leaders, weakens churches, and poisons relationships. One of the greatest prophets in the Bible, Elisha, teaches us a sobering lesson about how dangerous offense can become when left unchecked.
Elisha was famous for believing God for a double portion of his master Elijah’s anointing. But we rarely talk about the day Elisha got in his feelings.
Let’s knock on his door and see what happened.
2 Kings 2:23–24 (KJV):
And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him, and said unto him, “Go up, thou bald head.”
And he turned back, and looked on them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tare forty and two children of them.
He cursed them—in the name of the Lord.
How many times have we justified our words, our reactions, and our offenses “in the name of the Lord”?
Just two verses earlier, Elisha had spoken healing over barren waters, and the Lord honored his word for good. But when offense entered his heart, his words carried destruction instead. The same mouth that blessed now cursed—and God still honored his word.
This is a wake-up call for us as leaders. What are we saying that’s causing others to be blessed or torn apart? The Lord honors His Word, but He will also hold us accountable for the spirit behind our speech.
Pastors curse members when they leave their churches. Members dishonor leaders in the name of truth. Spouses dishonor their partners. Parents speak negatively about their children. We forget that David refused to touch Saul, even when Saul hunted him with 30,000 men. David honored the anointing, not the man. Even after Saul’s death, David honored his seed.
Where is the fear of the Lord?
David understood that honor was never about Saul—it was about God. The same must be true for us. As the body of Christ, we must guard our hearts from deception and refuse to be baited by offense.
John Bevere said, “Offense is the bait of Satan.” And he was right. The enemy wants us to take that bait—to curse instead of bless, to tear down instead of build, to react instead of reflect.
But God is calling us higher. He’s giving us eagle vision—a panoramic view to expose the schemes of the enemy. He’s going before us to make the crooked places straight and the rough places smooth.
So let us endure hardness as good soldiers. Let us lay down our right to be offended and pick up the cross of Christ.
This battle isn’t ours—it’s the Lord’s.
“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.” —Psalm 19:14