I realize that people say things, well, wrong.
Heaven knows I do this ALL the time.
Humans tend to “speak their mind”. It is not easy to remember to “think before you speak”.
I often wish my words had a ten second delay… giving me the opportunity to sensor, revise or delete.
But things are said that cannot be taken back.
Feelings are hurt. People become offended.
I have been the giver and recipient.
The single, most important [and perhaps the most difficult] thing to remember is this…
Offence it taken, not given.
When we believe or we have been offended, we usually mean we feel insulted, mistreated, snubbed, or disrespected. And certainly clumsy, embarrassing, unprincipled, and mean-spirited things do occur in our interactions with other people that would allow us to take offense. However, it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else.
How easy it is for us to blame others for our feelings.David A. Bednar … And Nothing Shall Offend Them [October 2006 General Conference]
(You can listen to, or read his talk HERE.)
It’s hard to look inward and take responsibility for how we react to things that are said [or not said].
After all, if we take the responsibly, we have to do the work to “fix” it within ourselves.
But that can be easy too, through the Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Psalm 119:165 … Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.
