What's hiding in my heart?

Psalm 119:11 NLT

I have hidden Your Word in my heart, that I might not sin against You.

Yesterday something happened that waved the flag of offence in my face all day. It nagged at me in every spare moment and tempted me to respond in kind.

Yes, it was an unkind and ungrateful act that came out of the blue from an unexpected source.

I badly wanted to share it with my nearest and dearest so that he would be outraged with me!

But I was stopped in my tracks by the Holy Spirit and counselled by the Great Counsellor to keep it between the the Lord and me - trusting that He will deal with it in His time.

Luke 17:1-2 NKJV

Then He said to the disciples, "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! [2] It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

Many of us watched as Charlie Kirk's wife publicly forgave her husband's killer. How hard must that have been? We'd all rather identify with the pronoucements of Donald Trump of hate and punishment wouldn't we?

Yet to live offended is to live with a twisted dagger in the heart. It delves deeper and deeper into every area if it's left unchecked. Like a poisonous cancer it will extract my peace, my joy and my ability to love.

As a dear friend once counselled me: "Guard your heart!"

Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

We always guard our belongings, don't we? We lock the doors and windows when we go out, we lock the car when we park it. Yet how often have I failed to lock my heart?

Putting the "guard" of God's Word in my heart will eject alien infiltration and the many temptations to live offended

Father God please plant Your Word so deeply in my heart that it locks out the many offences that come my way. Keep me cleansed by Jesus' Holy Blood.