Joan Boney ... apostle / prophet
People sometimes say things to us and we find we are offended. If we leave this unattended and try to forget it without dealing with it in a spiritual way, a root of bitterness may grow inside us and cause us to sin and defile others.
Heb. 12 ... 14 Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord: 15 Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
When a person speaks something and we are offended, we must turn to God immediately, laying the situation out before God in prayer.
Often we will need to forgive that person. Sometimes we might have to confront that person with that which was said. It all depends on what God wants us to do.
But one thing we must not do is to allow their words to fester in us like an infected boil, causing us to puff up and allowing evil to grow inside us like a cancer. For that will trouble you and "thereby many be defiled."
Therefore we are told to "look diligently" ... we have to watch that which goes into our heart.
If we fail to turn to God in prayer with what happened, we will take it into our heart and it will bear evil fruit and often we will needlessly harm others because of this.