Exposition:

Offense is part of human life and it must be admitted and proper ways devised to handle it. You can be offended by close relations and best friends. Sometimes, depending on the person who offends you, one can decide not to talk about it. They think that talking about it can lead to intense hatred. In some cases, it is better to be quiet and get over it but other times it is better to talk about it to ensure calm.

In the story of Saul and David, Saul did not talk about it when he got offended with David by the action of the women. He kept it in his heart and cooked all his plans to kill David in his mind. Today’s devotion seeks to introduce us to three ways we can attempt managing offenses. These are Repression, Expression and Release Repression is a form of denial. If a person denies that he is offended, then he feels no obligation to deal with the offense. With this sometimes, the problem is solved temporarily.

Naturally, this is a dangerous method of handling offense. Repression may have its short-term reward, but in the long run repressed offense results in bitterness and rebellion. Saul practised repression when he got offended after David had killed Goliath. By repressing the offense, the person offended is pushing the hurt from the conscious to the subconscious. There, it can fester and worsen without the persons’ knowledge.

Bible says from that day when the women credited Saul with thousands and David his ten thousand, Saul got offended but did not tell David or anybody but kept a close eye on David. Keeping offenses to ourselves breeds unnecessary evil in the sense that, the moment you see the offender, different thoughts come to mind. In some few cases, people decide not to talk about offense and get it off their mind.

You should know yourself and be able to tell whether you are good to go with repression as a way of managing offenses when they occur. May the Lord help us to be able to draw a conclusion on which of the three ways we can manage offenses with, after we have discussed the other two in our next series.