True Charity - I need to change

"Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down.  

It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily.  

It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings.  

It is accepting people as they truly are.  

It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes 

that will not dim through time.  It is resisting the impulse 

to categorize others."  Thomas S. Monson

I have looked at charity in a lot of ways.  I know that it is the true love of God.  I have always understood that we need to have patience and long suffering.  But the part that really stands out to me today is about resisting the impulse to become offended easily.  I just never looked at become offended as a choice that I make.  I never quite looked at is as a sin.  

So, today, I am re-evaluating.  I know there are people who have offended me.  I struggle with that sometimes daily.  I don't let it interfere with my relationship with the Lord, but I do let it interfere with how I treat others.  Perhaps the sin is in letting it affect other areas of my life.  The worst part, is that I really don't know how to check the impulse.  

I suspect that I will keep praying about it and keep trying to change my own feelings.  I will keep praying for the Lord's blessing to be upon those who offend me.  I will keep trying to change myself instead of others.  For me, the struggle is in letting what others say, go.  It is in trusting the Lord enough to believe that He knows what I need.  It is learning to truly forgive and not just give lip service about it.  

For me, true charity is nothing short of an inner change of heart.  It is something I struggle with and something that I aspire toward.  One simple heart-felt step at a time.