How wrongful offences block God's blessings on us.

'Wrongful Offence' has the potential to withhold God's blessings in our lives. Many people are struggling to receive answers to their prayers because of the offences they have caused to other people.

Settling down an agreement including the words :' I am sorry', could actually open doors to great miracles.

Why am I writing about this?

About a year ago , from the time I am posting this article, I was struggling financially and was in serious debts. My indiscipline led me to disrespect the financial agreements I had with my creditors. During almost  four years, I disregarded all my obligations towards them. Not because I could not really afford it, but simply because I just did not feel like paying them. As a result, my debts accrued with interests until it became too hard to repay.

It's only at the end of last year (2012) that I decided to pay my debts. Today as I write this post, I have settled all of them and it feels good....trust me on that.

As I reflect on my past financial indiscipline, I have discovered some valuable life lessons:

1. refusing to pay debts is a wrongful offence:

' Even billionaires creditors can get wrongfully offended. It is very ungrateful not to repay someone or an institution who/which had willingly decided to help us when we were in need and struggling. Not respecting the original agreement ( debt repayment)  is really dishonest. Imagine yourself being a lender, helping out people in need who in return refuse to repay you as per agreement. How would it feel? You would feel hurt, right? That's the taste of the offence. Don't get surprised when rich billionaire individuals or institutions decide to file a lawsuit against bad payers. Those lenders are simply hurt. They might not need the money, but they are definitely offended.

2. Offending= Owing:

' Before coming in my presence with your sacrifice, If you know that you have offended your brother (or sister), go first make peace with the person you have offended then come back to me' (  Matthew 5:24)

Why is God stressing the value of cleaning ourselves from offences before meeting Him ?

It's simply because offence is a debt. When you wrongfully offend somebody , you are automatically owing something to that person. It might be a' sorry', money, a material, dedication, or  love... Every time you are wrongfully offending someone, you automatically have the resources to pay what you owe to that person. And when I say 'resources' ,I am not limiting myself to material resources only, but also to moral or abstract resources such as an apology.

3. Three reasons Why is it difficult for God to bless a wrongful offender?

-Because it is a principle that God gave to Himself. And God always respects His own principles.

-Every time God faces an unrepentant offender who asks for His blessing, God has only a response for him\her:

' Son\ Daughter, you want me to bless you but you are owing a debt that you could potentially repay with abstract or material resources. My son/ daughter, you are withholding what does not belong to you. Go settle your  wrongful offences first and come back to get my blessing.'

-Offended people cry or complain day and nights (depending on the offence) for justice, repayment and fairness. Even God can hear them in their tears. Now imagine that you have seriously offended someone, who cries day and night for repayment. His\ her tears rise up to God. And in the same time you are busy asking God for His blessings in your life. It does not sound right. Does it?  I hope you agree with me.

 4. Back to my personal testimony:

I was owing money to three mega credit providers in the country where I currently live. It turned out that every time I was paying off an account in full, new opportunities were showing up in my life in form of travels, business, and even relationships. Some of my oldest desires came to realization  In my case I had a bad credit record and I am not saying that having credit accounts is a bad thing. It only becomes a bad thing to disregard an agreement towards someone who willingly helped you while you were in need. If you are in financial debts, I think it is OK as long as you respect your financial agreements through time.

If you can't afford to repay, be honest about it and tell your creditors the truth. They will gladly work an agreement for you just like Jesus said:

 ' Make friends quickly with your opponent at law while you are with him on the way, so that your opponent may not hand you over to the judge, and the judge to the officer, and you be thrown into prison ..."Truly I say to you, you will not come out of there until you have paid up the last cent.' ( Matthew 5:25-26)

I hear somebody say :'But there are some offenders who are prosperous.They commit crimes and are doing well.They drive beautiful cars and live in mansions because of their  wrongful offences...'

Okay, you might be right. But the truth is :'Those people don't sleep at night.They constantly watch their backs when they walk.  They enrich attorneys and lawyers everyday for their protection. They have money but lack peace...because of the wrong things they have done. That's not a blessing. The Bible say that God's blessing comes with no sorrow.(Proverbs 10:22)

Do you want a full blessing containing peace of mind?

I hear somebody else say: 'But our God is full of grace, it does not matter what we have done to others, He will fill us with His grace!'

Maybe you are right. But Grace is not a licence to withhold debts, apologies or to offend wrongfully .

 And besides, even if we don't owe materially, let's ensure that we repay what's due to whomever we might have offended. Simple and rich words like : 'I am sorry' could unleash great blessings in your life.

P.S: 'Notice that I have used the term ' wrongful offence' as a pure distinctive term. It is possible to offend someone one without being wrong and for a good reason, but this discussion belongs to another post.'