Offense easily happens in the church and our everyday relationships with colleagues, friends and family, even when it's not the goal. When correcting, rebuking or even simply just speaking to others, we can find ourselves doing more harm than good.
And while sometimes we don't mean any harm, if we look deep inside our hearts, most of our offensive words and actions are motivated by selfish and ungodly motives -- the need to be right, self-righteousness, insecurity or even superiority.
But there is one person who mastered the art of being offensive for the best reasons, and that's none other than Jesus Himself. He was offensive on many occasions, but it was always for the right reasons. Here are a few reasons that motivated Jesus's offensive yet necessary actions.
Jesus acted in love
The whole motive of Jesus's life was love. Why else would He abandon all else to become a mortal man and heal the sick, preach salvation, teach Christian living and even die on a cross for us?
Romans 5:8 tells us, "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We can be assured that all God has done for us -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- has been because of His steadfast love.
Jesus had all intentions to make things better
Isaiah 53:5 says, "But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed."
All that Jesus does for us is to make us better. He brings both blessing and correction because He loves us and desires to see freedom, peace, joy, productivity and righteousness come out of our lives. As we act in love to the point of offense, is this truly the measure of our hearts?
Jesus dealt with the heart
Jesus would often speak against heart-level sins that needed to be addressed, even though it would be offensive. But the reason he could get away with it was because people could see he wasn't saying things to be cruel or belittle others or parade in false authority, like the religious leaders of the day.
Jesus walked the talk
Unlike all of us, Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life. As a result, He could speak so bluntly against the pride of others because He exemplified the life that we should live.
2 Corinthians 5:21 says, "For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."
