Self Preservation (Dealing With Offense)

Good morning and Happy Monday!

I'm still reading the book "The Bait of Satan". As I've shared before, this book deals with offense. It teaches how to overcome offense and how to deal with internal issues that lead to offense. When I read self help books, I often highlight important notes and then go back into the book and re-read pieces. This helps me alot because I usually find important notes that pertain to how I'm feeling at certain times. Like today, I found a highlighted note that talks about Self-Preservation and how we isolate ourselves when we feel offended. I am the first to admit that I shelter myself when I feel like someone has offended me. I've always believed that this was my way of preventing an argument or going off on someone,  but really it's a to protect myself and to ignore my insecurities or the role that I played in the situation. Here's what the book says about self preservation:

"A common excuse for self-preservation through disobedience is offense. There is a flase sense of self protection in harboring an ofense. It keeps your from seeing your own character flaws because the blame is deffered to another. You never have to face your role, your immaturity, or your sin because you only see the faults of the offender. Therefore, God's attempt to develop character in your by this opposition is now abandoned. The offended person will avoid the source of the offense and eventually flee, becoming a spirtual vagabond."

So basically, when we back away from an offense, we ultimately lose because we miss out on opportunities for GOD to build our character. This is something that we should all think about the next time we're offended. Is the offense really an offense or are we trying to protect ourselves from what we know is true? What are your thoughts?