Pastor Mike Signorelli of V1 Church takes you on a journey through scripture and teaches how to live unoffendable.
Mike Signorelli
Day 1
Scriptures: Luke 17:1, John 15:8-20, Romans 15:7, John 8:1-11
It is a biblical fact that if you are alive on earth you will be offended. Jesus Himself tells us that in Luke 17:1, “Then He said to the disciples, ‘It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come!’” That’s why learning to have an unoffendable heart is so essential. Your physical heart has four chambers and so does your spiritual heart. In order to live unoffendable, you have to look at each one of those chambers and the first is the chamber of expectations.
Most of your offense comes from broken expectations. Offense is the surprise brought on by the expectation that people will not hurt you. As a Christian that isn’t going to be your reality. In John 15:18-20 Jesus says that people hated Him, therefore, Christian, they will hate you! And if they obeyed Jesus, they will obey you! So when you talk to your family, friends, or co-workers about Jesus, expecting them to listen to you and they don’t, it’s because they don’t listen to Jesus! You have to stop trying to give a Christian standard to somebody who isn’t Christian!
Romans 15:7 says to welcome everyone as Christ has accepted us, broken, yet we don’t want people until they’re all cleaned up! We’re mad at the person that just sinned yesterday when the reality is we just sinned three weeks ago! John 8:7, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” Anytime you go to stone someone with words, you’re just murdering them for a sin that’s different than yours because offense is the identity stethoscope of the heart and reveals far more about you than it does them! God will use the most hurtful things that have ever been said or done to you in your life as a stethoscope to hear the bruised, broken parts of your identity so He can reveal who you are and whose you are.
Day 2
Scriptures: Genesis 37:1-4, Proverbs 21:23, Genesis 31:5-7, Genesis 50:20
The second chamber of your heart is the chamber of justice. Genesis 37:1-4 introduces us to Joseph and his character. He was a man of integrity! He didn’t care if you were related to him; if you were doing something wrong, he called it wrong. Often we’re taught that Joseph was hated for his dream, but here we see that he was hated long before for his character. Character creates competition because character is what makes the dream possible. Most people in life, like Joseph’s brothers, don’t want to actually do right. They just want to be perceived as doing right. The same people that you think would support you on this journey of growth will actually compete with you. As your character increases so does the level of competition. The question is will you be able to facilitate the hate? Because you will only be as big as the amount of hate you can tolerate.
You’re going to get to a place in life if you express a God-dream enough; the one that’s given, not the one that’s created; to the point where even the people whom you thought would never betray you, will rebuke you and betray you. Proverbs 21:23 says, “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” A wise man talks less and prays more. He knows what to say and whom to say it to. It’s hard not to talk about things we’re given, but talking about your dreams in the wrong circle will get you in trouble. Joseph talked about his dreams in the wrong circle and he paid for it. God didn’t do it, but He allowed it and then used it for Joseph’s good!
You were birthed with a God-given dream and purpose for your life, but that God-given dream is going to produce division. Being the true you, a man or woman of God with character, alone will offend people. People are not afraid of you simply because you have a dream, everyone does. When you become a doer, that’s when the division begins. But if you allow it, God will give you the character to withstand it!
Action step: Pray and ask God to search your heart and reveal your character.
Day 3
Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 3:11, Matthew 16:13-18, John 6:67-68, 1 Peter 1:7
The third chamber in your heart is the chamber of confidence. Whoever you put the most confidence in becomes the greatest source of your confidence, and the loudest voice in your heart is the one that you believe the most. The loudest voice in your heart is your own. What is it saying? Because it’s absolutely vital this chamber be healed and whole. So where does your confidence lie? Put your confidence in yourself, and you’ll only fail yourself when you return to that vice you’re so desperately trying to quit. Put your confidence in another human being, you’ll only be set up for a letdown when they reveal how messed up and broken they really are. Put your confidence and Jesus and you’ll be on a sure foundation (1 Corinthians 3:11).
Pride and arrogance will indicate disease in your chamber of confidence. It will indicate a lack of identity because some of the most arrogant people you will ever meet actually have no idea who they are. Peter was not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he knew where his identity lay! When Jesus asked Peter who He was, Peter replied, “the Son of God;” and when others left Jesus, Peter knew there was no other place to go because Jesus is the source of it all! But the others weren’t there for the real Jesus. They were there for the platform! God will always go into the epicenter of your heart to where your true motives lie and give you a crossroads where you get to choose (John 6:67-68)!
A healed, whole chamber of confidence is one that knows its identity and walks in obedience to it. People around you will be checking you and the decisions you make in your life. Is your confidence in Jesus? Do you have an unoffendable heart? When you know your identity you walk in obedience. In the Kingdom of Heaven obedience equals advancement because faith not tested cannot be trusted (1 Peter 1:7)! God is looking for those who will stay the course even if those around them question or don’t get it.
Action step: Keep digging into your identity. Post reminders around you to remind you where your true identity lies.
Day 4
Scriptures: Joshua 1:1-9, Matthew 14:27-29
The fourth and final chamber of your spiritual heart is the chamber of memory.
In Joshua 1:1-9 we see Joshua installed as leader of the Israelites after the death of Moses. As we read this passage the words, “Be courageous,” are said over and over. You are going to need courage if you want to see the promise of God fulfilled in your life, but the truth is you don’t need courage for the promise, you need courage for the path!
Courage is not just the ability to do what scares you. It’s the strength to face pain and grief. Along the path to your promise, you are going to have to confront your chamber of memories and perform heart surgery as only He can! If you’ve got a big destiny for your life, God will put some messages on repeat. The message to be courageous is repeated when Jesus appears to the disciples as He is walking on water. He encourages them to have courage. Then Peter responds, “Tell me and I’ll come” (Matthew 14:27-29).
What would happen if you said, “Tell me and I’ll come?” God is calling you to go deep down in your chamber of memories and walk with Him through the tragedies and disappointments of your past: the leaders that failed you, the relationships that broke you. You’re going to have to walk through your anger at Him, the times you believed He abandoned you, disappointed you, let things happen to you, made you stop believing in Him. You have to have the courage to go there because the real test is, can you be unoffendable towards God? But on the other side of courage is your destiny, your ministry, your marriage, your life being made completely whole! Courage is the anti-venom for the poison of your tragic memories.
Action step: Spend time in prayer and ask God what events in your life are not resolved.