The Lord said:
It is necessary that the things that cause offense must be done and taught, but woe be to those who are offended by them! (Matthew 18:7, My Reflection)
Is it ever good to be offended? We describe things that we are offended at by saying we were offended by them. Can anything force you to react with offense without your consent? When you are offended by something, does it indicate something about what you are offended at, or only something about yourself? And what does it indicate? Where does offense come from, if not from evidence that something you valued has less value than you thought? And how often is that something your own self image? What is more offensive to a haughty person than evidence that their comeliness is actually corruption? And yet, is there a greater gift than to help a person see more of the truth--things as they really are--especially pertaining to how they really are? A person who has an inflated self-image will never do what is necessary to grow into someone better than they already are. What they are offended at is the very best gift they could be given, because it is the only thing that can free them from their self-imposed chains.
With this in mind, consider the following:
1 At this time, the disciples came to Jesus asking how to ascend in the kingdom of heaven.
2 And Jesus placed himself in the middle of his disciples, then called a little child to him, and said: though this child knows but little about me, he considered what he knew about me sufficient to come when I called. Though faith is the key to obtaining even the greatest of what the Father has to give, each step in the way is this clear and simple, and until you develop the faith to do what is justified based on what you have been shown, you will never come to me.
3 And of a truth I tell you, until you change to become like the young ones striving to become like me, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Then he took the child into his arms and said: He who humbly submits to the Father in all things, as a good child does to his father, will dedicate himself to the service of all the Father’s children, and is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.
5 Whoever warmly receives one of my servants as an example of my character, I will warmly receive, because they will come to me by becoming like those who are like me.
6 But those who turn away from the examples they are given are like a person who hangs a heavy stone around his neck, ties up his own feet and hands, and jumps into deep water. It would be better for them to do this than to turn away from the example of one who is more like God than they are. Their offense at one who is better provides an obstacle to their eternal fate that is like the heavy stone, and in turning away from what is obviously better, they damage their future ability to perceive and receive improvement, as if they were binding their own hands and feet before jumping into deep water.
7 It is necessary that the things that cause offense must be done and taught, but woe be to those who are offended by them!
8 If some aspect of what you do or how you are causes you to be offended by the revelation of greater truth, no matter if it is as integral to who you are as your very hand or foot, cut it off from you and forsake it! It is much better to enter into the life that I give crippled or lame than to be cast into eternal fire as you were before.
9 If some aspect of how you perceive things to be causes you to be offended by the revelation of greater truth, no matter if it is as integral to who you are as your very eye, gouge it out, and forsake it! It is much better to enter into the life that I give with one eye than it is to be cast into hellfire with two eyes.
10 See that you not despise one of my servants who live as they understand me to be! They have been provided to you as a waypoint in your journey to seeing and becoming like how the Father is.
11 These have come for the sake of saving you, because without them, you would have been lost. And I have come for the sake of saving them, for without me, they would be lost.
12 Consider and understand. If there were a man with a hundred sheep, and one of them went astray, wouldn’t he leave the ninety-nine on the mountains in order to rescue the one?
13 And if he finds it, he will rejoice more over it than the ninety nine who remain where they were.
14 And this is the will of your Father, who is in heaven, that these his little ones should be rescued. (Matthew 18, My Reflection)