Protect Your Heart From Offense | Victoria Osteen

Summary

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Joel Osteen Podcast

Episode: Protect Your Heart From Offense | Victoria Osteen

Date: May 9, 2026
Host: Victoria Osteen (with Joel Osteen)

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Episode Overview

In this heartfelt episode, Victoria Osteen delivers a message about the importance of protecting your heart from offense. Drawing on both Biblical wisdom and practical analogy, she encourages listeners to let go of hurts, resist letting negative experiences shape their identity, and instead fill their lives with forgiveness and love. The underlying theme is choosing what you allow into your heart and understanding the transformative power of releasing offense.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Inevitability of Offense

• [01:34] Victoria opens by acknowledging that everyone will face offenses—through hurtful words, unfair actions, disappointments, or betrayals.

• She emphasizes that while the pain is real, we must not allow these offenses to become embedded in our hearts.

  "You know, as long as we live, we're going to have to guard our hearts from taking in offense. ...these types of offenses, they don't do us any good. You see, they only bring heartache, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness."
  — Victoria Osteen [01:34]

Identity and Security in Christ

• [03:00] Victoria discusses how many people tie their identity to things (jobs, relationships), making them vulnerable to offense when those sources fail.

• Instead, she counsels that true security comes from identifying with Jesus Christ.

  "If you identify with your job and your job goes away, then your identity has gone away. ...We are to identify with Jesus Christ. We are to find our security in him."
  — Victoria Osteen [03:30]

The Choice: Take the Offense or Let It Go

• [05:25] Victoria introduces the concept that offenses exist—it’s our choice whether we pick them up or drop them.

• She encourages listeners to become skilled at forgiving and covering others’ offenses.

  "Today, the offense is not yours unless you take it. The offense originated from them. So you can either take that offense or you can drop that offense..."
  — Victoria Osteen [06:05]

• She references Proverbs 17:9:

  "He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love."

Analogy: The Pearl and the Oyster

• [07:00] Victoria shares an analogy from her family's jewelry business: The formation of a pearl.

  • An oyster isn't trying to create a pearl; it’s trying to protect itself from intruding irritants.
  • The oyster secretes nacre to insulate itself, eventually producing a beautiful pearl.

• She equates offenses in life to these irritants—the process of pushing them out creates something valuable in us.

  "You know, offenses in our life are a lot like that irritant. In the life of an oyster...they can become offenses. See, we have got to push those out of our heart and into the hands of God."
  — Victoria Osteen [08:32]

The Role of Forgiveness and Prayer

• [09:30] The importance of forgiving and praying for those who hurt us.

• Each act of forgiveness is likened to the nacre that insulates and protects, creating spiritual “pearls” in our lives.

  "Every time you release that wrong into God's hands, you're secreting more of the nacre of love around that offense."
  — Victoria Osteen [10:20]

Storing Up Goodness, Not Offense

• [10:50] Victoria stresses the importance of intentionally storing up goodness, not bitterness, in our hearts.

• She references Luke 6:45—"A good man brings forth good things out of the good treasure stored up in his heart."

  "He's saying don't give offense valuable spirit space because it's bitterness, it's resentment, it's pollutants, it is things that will pollute your life."
  — Victoria Osteen [11:10]

Power Over Offense

• [11:23] Offense only has power if you allow it into your heart. Even if what’s said or done is not true, it only becomes powerful in your life if you accept it.

  "It doesn't have to be true. But if you give that power over you, it might as well be truth."
  — Victoria Osteen [11:23]

• Her call to action: Stay vigilant, push out offense, and allow God's love to create pearls of wisdom, freedom, and abundance.

  "I believe and I declare that you will see pearls of wisdom, pearls of freedom and pearls of abundance being formed in your life."
  — Victoria Osteen [11:40]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On letting go of offense:

  "Let it go. Get good at letting it go. In fact, what I want to say to us today is we're going to have to get good at forgiving and covering their offenses."
  — Victoria Osteen [05:10]

• On choosing forgiveness:

  "Forgiveness is powerful and God's love is more than enough. Even when I don't feel like I can love, God has got more love than I could ever use up."
  — Victoria Osteen [06:30]

• On the result of letting go:

  "We can't make room for what God wants to do in our heart. So we must choose love."
  — Victoria Osteen [10:40]

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Key Timestamps

• 01:34 — The necessity of guarding your heart from offense
• 03:00 — Identity and security in Christ rather than external sources
• 05:25 — Offense is a choice; encouragement to let go and forgive
• 07:00 — The oyster and the pearl analogy; turning irritants into something beautiful
• 09:30 — The power of forgiveness and prayer in pushing out offense
• 10:50 — Storing up goodness versus polluting your heart with bitterness
• 11:23 — Offense only holds power when you accept it

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Conclusion

Victoria Osteen's message is a compassionate and practical guide to dealing with life's inevitable offenses. Through personal stories, biblical references, and the vivid analogy of the pearl, she illustrates how releasing offenses protects your spirit, allows growth, and makes room for God's blessings. The episode's tone is empathetic, supportive, and filled with faith, offering tools for lasting peace and wholeness.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Stewart, and I have a new podcast called the Morgan Stewart Show. Join me each week as I talk about pop culture, fashion, my personal life and just a warning, I'm gonna be giving my opinion on everything. I'll also have some really fun guests to join in on the fun. The Morgan Stewart show is out now. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts or watch full video on YouTube.

[C]

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[B]

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[D]

Hi, this is Joel and Victoria. Thanks for listening to our podcast and thanks for supporting the ministry.

[E]

If you enjoyed today's message, why don't you be a blessing and share it with.

[D]

We appreciate you and pray for God's very best in your life.

[E]

You know, as long as we live, we're going to have to guard our hearts from taking in offense. You know, all through our life, people are going to hurt us. Unfair things are going to happen. We'll be disappointed. People may say something that's not true. See, these are all the types of offense that we can't allow to take residency in our heart. See, we can't allow those things to become part of our lives. I have seen people who have gone through a difficult divorce. They have been hurt. I've seen people who have been cheated. And it was real. But the difference is those people never let that situation go. They always brought that situation back into their life. And you know, these types of offenses, they don't do us any good. You see, they only bring heartache, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness. See, that's what offense does. When it gets into our heart, it produces in our life that's why we have to make sure that we don't allow what happens to us to get in us. You see, I believe that God wants us to understand that we are secure in Him. You know, we talk about identity. We talk about what we identify with. You see, if you identify with your job and your job goes away, then your identity has gone away. If you identify with a person and they make you important, if that person happens to leave or that person happens to disappoint you or say something to hurt you, guess what? Your identity has been crushed. You see, we are to identify with Jesus Christ. We are to find our security in him. We have to know that he is free and he's not against us. He's the one that's going to take care of us. When we identify with the wrong thing and the wrong thing happens to us, then guess what? We feel wrong. That's an offense. That's an offense. And I want to encourage us all, if you've ever been hurt, if you've ever been left, if you've ever been cheated, if you've ever been lied on, they're real and it hurts. But can I encourage every one of us today? Let it go. Let it go. Don't get stuck in that offense. Don't hold onto it. Don't let it be a part of your identity. Listen, people can't define your life unless you allow them to. You see, when you hold on to those situations and those offense, you know what you're doing. You're allowing those situations, those unfair things, to continue to hurt you. You might not be able to change the situation. It happened. The person, what they said. Yep, they said it. But you know what? If you hold onto it, then the hurt continues. Let it go. Get good at letting it go. In fact, what I want to say to us today is we're going to have to get good at forgiving and covering their offenses. All right? Their offenses. See, let's look at it this way. Today, the offense is not yours unless you take it. The offense originated from them. So you can either take that offense or you can drop that offense and you can say, no, you know what? I'm going to forgive them. I'm going to cover this offense. Listen to what it says in Proverbs 17:9. It says, he who covers and forgives an offense seeks love. You see, it's an offense. Didn't say it wasn't going to come. It is an offense. What are you going to do with it? The choice is ours. We can seek to Go after love and say, uh, forgiveness is powerful and God's love is more than enough. Even when I don't feel like I can love, God has got more love than I could ever use up. Or we can seek the offense. We can talk about it, tell our friends about it, dwell on it, get frustrated, lose sleep, coddle it, snuggle it. This is my offense. You see, that's how you draw that in. That's how you make it become a part of who you are and your identity. But what we have to do is we have to do this. We have to push that offense away from us. We have to say, no, it's not my offense to take. I'm God's. I've got the power in my life through the spirit of God to forgive. And I can do that because you know what? I know who I am in Christ, and I know that God's going to help me do this. Ever since I can remember, my family's been in the jewelry business. And I've always learned about precious metals and gemstones, where they came from. But the story of the pearl is very fascinating. Most of you know that a pearl comes from an oyster. And you see, that oyster goes through a tremendous process to create and form that pearl. Funny thing is, is that oyster is not trying to create a pearl. What that oyster is doing is trying to protect itself from the irritants, the particles, the splinter like things that tries to make its way into its shell from the ocean waters, get into its shell and try to embed itself in the tiny mollusk of the oyster. So the oyster has something called nacre. It's a substance that comes naturally to the oyster. When an invader comes in that it secretes, and it pushes that irritant away from it. So it pushes and works to secrete the nacre, to keep distance between what's trying to harm it. And as a result of it working and secreting and covering it with nacre, it forms a precious and beautiful pearl. You know, offenses in our life are a lot like that. Irritant. In the life of an oyster, words come, actions come. They're irritants. They can become offenses. See, we have got to push those out of our heart and into the hands of God. See, God has given us a way to insulate ourselves, to put distance between what wants to harm us. And it's the fact that we can decide what we do with it. We can either push it and release the hurts, release the wrongs, or we can bring them into our life. And I just Want to encourage every one of us to get good at pushing out, pushing out what would try to harm us. Now the Bible says this. It says that we are to forgive those who have wronged us, we are to forgive those who persecute us, we are to forgive and pray for those people. You see, we one way to do it is to pray. One way to insulate yourself from that irritant, that offense that's trying to embed itself in your heart is to pray. And every time you pray and you declare God, I forgive that person in the name of Jesus, you know what you're doing? You're secreting the naker of God's love around that offense. Every time you release that wrong into God's hands, you're secreting more of the naker of love around that offense. You see, we've got to keep that distance between that offense and our heart. We cannot hold onto offense because God wants to get all these good things to us. And if we're holding onto the wrong, we can't make room for the right. We can't make room for what God wants to do in our heart. So we must choose love. We must choose what we're going to do with that offense. Listen to what it says in Luke 6, 4. It says a good man brings forth good things out of the good treasure stored up in his heart. See, that is saying that God wants you to store up the good treasure in your heart. He's saying don't give offense valuable spirit face because it's bitterness, it's resentment, it's pollutants, it is things that will pollute your life. And nobody wants those things because the truth is what is in our heart will come out into our life. And many times the things that we have started in our heart first. So we've got to guard our heart. That is what I'm saying today. Especially in these times when people can say what they want, whenever they want about what they want. And it doesn't even have to be true. What makes it true is this. If it has power over you, you see, it doesn't have to be true. But if you give that power over you, it might as well be truth. So listen, I encourage every one of us, ah, be aware of what's trying to get itself in your heart. Push out that offense and cover it with the nacre of God's love. And I believe and I declare that you will see pearls of wisdom, pearls of freedom and pearls of abundance being formed in your life. And God will give you everything that you desire. Amen. Amen. He's an awesome God.

[D]

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[F]

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[D]

pray the promises what God has spoken over your life. Those are powerful prayers, and that's when God shows up and does what only he can do. Thanks so much for being with us. Victoria and I pray for you and your family every day and we appreciate your prayer and support. Your generosity helps us take this message of hope to people around the world. A special thank you to our Champion of Hope partners for all you do to make the ministry possible. If you're not a partner, I hope you'll consider becoming one. But until we meet again, may the Lord bless you and keep you.

[F]

Be sure to request your copy of Pray It Guided Prayers for Faith and Breakthrough, available this month by simply visiting [e-mail] or call 888-567-JOEL. You can also receive the Pray It Forward Companion Prayer Journal designed to help you engage in Scripture, personalize faith filled prayers and put God's promises into action. With an additional gift, you can receive the Pray It Forward Prayers Essential Collection that centers around a prayer bowl with Scripture cards designed to help you physically release what's been weighing on your heart, this collection creates a powerful prayer rhythm for your life, helping you focus your thoughts, speak God's word boldly, and stay anchored in hope when circumstances try to shake you. You can request these inspiring resources by calling 888-567-JOEL or logging on to jolostein.com today. Call or click anytime 24 hours a day. Choose to show up

[E]

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[F]

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[E]

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[B]

Hey everyone, it's me, Morgan Stewart, and I have a new podcast called the Morgan Stewart Show. Join me each week as I talk about pop culture, fashion, my personal life, and just a warning, I'm gonna be giving my opinion on everything. I'll also have some really fun guests to join in on the fun the Morgan Stewart show is out now. Listen and follow wherever you get your podcasts or watch full video on YouTube.

[G]

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