Luke 17: 1-19
"Jesus said to his disciples: It is impossible that stumbling blocks do not come"
(RVR1960)
Jesus was telling his disciples that offenses would come and that we were going to go through it because it was impossible that stumbles would not come but we must know that the offense when fed harms the mental and Christian health of the person.
The offense is a contempt, an insult, a mockery, an outrage, a moral or physical injury. Obviously it is a detriment to the dignity of the person who receives it and a lack of charity or justice for those who carry it out depending on the severity.
(Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
When people persist in offenses and allow it to be a space in their heart, it becomes latent and harmful like cancer because it slowly destroys the person but I want to tell you that there is something more powerful than any offense and it is love because love covers a multitude of sins.
Love is the antidote to offense. Let us always choose love over offense. The Christian who wants to have a prosperous and free life should rather cultivate love between his brothers and his peers.
Proverbs 17: 9
9 He who forgives the offense cultivates love;
he who insists on the offense divides his friends.
(New International Version)
The apostle Paul reduces the love of God in the book of 1 Corinthians 13 because without love, the most precious thing in man is reduced to nothing because love is the greatest virtue that a person can have and this is given by God, love is which will allow us to forgive the offense and let it pass because God has put a fence around our heart so that we can forgive the offenses of our neighbor and moderate our passions when they tend to get up in the middle of the offense, misunderstandings, etc. .
In Proverbs 10:12 it is written that “hatred stirs up quarrels; but love will cover all the fouls".
That is why love is central in the Christian life because we can do many things but if we do it without love, it is worth nothing because God does not take into account anything we do.
It is the love of God deposited in our hearts that allows us to forgive the offense and cultivate love.