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BREAKING OUT OF OFFENSE AND INTO FREEDOM
Kris Vallotton
September 28, 2022
DODGING BULLETS OF PAIN
Have you ever felt like you’re constantly dodging bullets left and right as if there was a target on your life? The endless run from pain can feel like a never-ending race on a hamster wheel. The truth is it’s pretty impossible to not experience some level of pain in life no matter how righteous and holy the standards are that you live by — we live in a fallen world with people in desperate need of God. Yet often the by-product of the pain we experience is a life chained down in offense. I’d propose offense will actually become your greatest hindrance to a life of freedom if you don’t expel it from your heart.
The challenge in front of us is often that offense tells us we need it in order to survive as if a level of revenge and bitterness will lead us to a justice that will make it all worth it. But, contrary to popular belief, when you’re living in offense, you’re inviting the enemy into your very home and allowing toxic seeds of indignation to take root in your life. As long as you remain entangled in resentment and bitterness you will remain a slave chained to the cycle of pain and dysfunction.
I recently sat down for a conversation with my friend Greg Hendricks. Greg grew up not ever knowing his father. He was plagued with the pain of abandonment and spent years searching for his identity in all the wrong places. But, the offense he was living with towards his dad became his greatest hindrance. Greg mentioned in our conversation, “Offense is the greatest hindrance to breakthrough. If offense is in your life you can't see through the lens of Christ or being redeemed, because it is taking up space that God wants to inhabit.” The first step to moving yourself off the hamster wheel of pain is ridding the places of offense in our life. True freedom exists in the humility of acknowledging we can’t fight the fight on our own.
OVERCOMING FATHERLESSNESS & FINDING TRUE IDENTITY
Maybe you know the pain of growing up in a dysfunctional family unit or the plight of living in fatherlessness. Truly, no child should ever have to endure this, but this is the story of many since we are living amongst the most fatherless generation in history. I want to encourage you that not all hope is lost, we serve a God that is the master of taking ashes and turning them into beauty. Our past pain does not dictate our future destiny — God is in the business of redemption.
In the release of my new book, Uprising: The Epic Battle for the Most Fatherless Generation in History I felt led to highlight stories of hope for a fatherless generation. I want to invite you to join us in this exclusive 5-part video series, October 25-30, 2022.
Here is how to register:
- Pre-order your copy of Uprising
- Register at theuprisingbook.com
- Check your email & join the Father Series Facebook discussion group
- First Father Series video delivered to your inbox on 10/25
Hope you join us!
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