Spirit of Offense: Knowing the Signs (Taking Everything Personal and Unable to Take Criticism)

December 14, 2022

Spirit of Offense: Knowing the Signs (Taking Everything Personal and Unable to Take Criticism)

What does the Bible say about being offended?

God’s Word is very clear when it comes to how He feels about a person that has been offended. In Proverbs 18:19 King Solomon writes, “A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle.”

Taking a closer look at this powerful verse of Scripture we can conclude that the Lord is comparing a person that is insulted to be harder to get through to than conquering a heavily guarded city. His or her selfish ambition will make it impossible for you to reason with them.

He then adds that their contentions or arguments are more solid than a bar on a castle. In other words if you were to get into a disagreement with a person that has the spirit of offense, you might as well give up because they are always going to feel as if they are right every time!

That is why it is critical that you recognize the characteristics that can lead to the stronghold of offense before it gets to that level. Bitterness is one of the many doors that you can open and if you’re not careful it can develop into a root of bitterness. Meaning that the oppression is no longer just on a superficial level but it is now digging itself deep into your life.

There are many Scriptures that go into detail about having the spirit of offense. Some examples are:

Hebrews 12:15 “looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.”
Proverbs 19:11 “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.”
Leviticus 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.”
1 Peter 2:8 “and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.” They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”
James 1:19 “So then, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.”

These are just some of the Scriptures that are referring to one having an offensive spirit. Meditate on them and allow them to marinate in your heart and mind so that when the enemy attempts to shoot thoughts in your direction you have Scriptures that can counterattack them. I am going into detail on two of the signs that you can look for that will indicate that you are dealing with this oppressive spirit in your life.

Taking Everything Personal

One of the clearest signs that you could be dealing with the spirit of offense is that you will often find yourself taking everything personally. You feel as if everyone is talking about you and that you are the focal point of every conversation even when it is clear that you are not. You are quick to react harshly to the smallest situations and don’t take the time to think things through.

You will take something someone said in general to a group of people and interpret it as if they are speaking directly to you. If a person is around you, they have to be extremely cautious about what they say to you because the slightest thing offends you. If this way of thinking does not get put under control it can lead to you having problems with a family member, your close friends, your spouse, and children.

You will find that it will begin to ruin every aspect of your life. What the enemy will do is take these adverse emotions attached to you taking things so personally and exacerbate them. Before you know it those negative feelings will begin to turn into the stronghold of habitual offense.

That will lead to doors being opened up that the devil and his demonic kingdom can come through and begin to wreak havoc in your life. Unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment, and spite are the best soil that the enemy can use to plant the seeds leading to this powerful stronghold.

You have to remember, Satan forms his mischief by law (Psalm 94:20) so all he has to do is to get you to go against the Lord’s Word. Developing unforgiveness in your heart is one of the ways he does this. He will use the fact that you take everything so personally as a way that he can develop his tactics against you. Once you come into agreement and allow these unfavorable characteristics to influence your life, the enemy now has the legal right to come in and invade your space.

God’s Word is very clear on how He feels about forgiving others. I have several articles that cover this topic that I will list here: Forgiveness: Appreciate Your Enemies!, Forgiveness: Recognize the Need to Forgive!, Forgiveness: Learning How to Handle Offense, Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 2, Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 3, and The Importance of Forgiveness!

He isn’t asking us to pardon the transgressions of others, He commands us to, Matthew 18:35. The reason it is so important to pay attention to the signs that can lead to this spirit is because if you allow them to linger on, they will turn into the stronghold of offense. This demonic oppression will hinder you from living a life that displays the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, great peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, Galatians 5:22-23.

The thing is offended people offend people, and so what you will find yourself doing is just waiting for the moment that you can get back at the person that did you wrong. If you are someone that takes everything personally you will often think that other people “looked at you the wrong way,” or “said something that you took offense to.” Even if that person was not looking or talking to you, in your mind they were because everything revolves around you.

You will struggle to give people the benefit of the doubt and your unrealistic expectations will make it hard to develop long term relationships. You will allow the little things to get under your skin and you will let unresolved offenses linger for years! People’s lives are completely destroyed by this demonic spirit and it is the bait of Satan that he unleashes on the body of Christ consistently.

The good thing is by the grace of God and God’s love, He provided us with the help of the Holy Spirit Who is the One that will lead us and guide us, John 16:13. He will help you extinguish the stronghold of offense that is attempting to take root. The first step is for you to acknowledge that you are dealing with this oppressive spirit in the first place.

After you realize what you are up against it is going to take some spiritual growth on your part but you will not be alone. The Lord reiterates throughout His Word that He will never leave us or forsake us, Deuteronomy 31:6. The Holy Spirit will bring ever Scripture that you need to your remembrance so that you can combat the attack of the enemy, John 14:26.

Don’t allow the fact that you take everything personally to develop into something that becomes a strong hold in your life. You need to stop the enemy in his tracks! We have to keep in mind that there are two kingdoms constantly at battle for your soul: the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.

Unable to Take Criticism

Another sign that can indicate that you are dealing with the spirit of offense is the fact that you are unable to take criticism. No matter how another person approaches you, you will find yourself always becoming offended. They can deliver the critique in the most loving and sincere way and you will still take offense to it.

Your family will feel as if they have to tip toe around you because they always have to watch what they say. Whether you are at home or at your work place you find that you are always the offended person in every scenario. Why is that? You have allowed the enemy to creep into your thought process making you think that everyone is out to get you so in turn you are unable to accept criticism of any kind.

This way of thinking will affect your performance at your job, your relationships with your family, children, spouse, and every friendship. The fact that nobody can tell you anything even if it is to see you succeed is a problem. Once you have an understanding of what is causing you to act in the manner that you do, you can do something about it.

You have to come to the realization that life is completely spiritual and there is a devil and his demonic kingdom warring against you that you cannot see with the naked eye, Ephesians 6:12. At some point in your life you opened up the door to allow the enemy’s influence to come in causing you to have this extreme behavior.

The only way that you can overcome these demonic attacks is relying on Jesus Christ, the power of God and His Word, and the Holy Spirit to lead you into victory. But you can’t overcome something if you don’t admit that it is there to begin with. The devil loves to prevent you from having a clear conscience so what he will do is make you think that “this is just how you are.” If you listen to the lie long enough you will begin to believe it as truth.

Remember, Satan lies and is the father of lies, John 8:44. He will take positive things and turn them into negative ones. For instance: a friend that has your best interest at heart can come to you and tell you that the person that you are in a relationship with just isn’t the best for you, and the enemy will take that and make you think “they just don’t want to see you happy.” He is consistently shooting arrows at us and we have to learn how to protect ourselves from his devices, 2 Corinthians 2:11.

Some of the repercussions of having a spirit of offense:

The reason why the enemy loves to use the spirit of offense against the children of God consistently is because of all of the consequences that are attached to it. There are so many different verses of Scripture that command us to forgive our brothers and sisters. What ends up happening is that the people in our lives that we care about do something that offends us, hurts us, causes us pain or betrays us leading to the inability to forgive them. Once unforgiveness enters into your heart it opens the door to other adverse emotions.

The enemy will take those vulnerable moments and use them against you. He knows the Word of God better than most Christians and knows how to entangle us by using the laws of God against us. It is critical that you get into the Bible and study to show yourself approved with the ability to discern the true Word of God, 2 Timothy 2:15. This will prevent you from getting caught up in Satan’s devices which the spirit of offense happens to be one of the main ones.

It will alter your destiny- Meaning that doors that were meant to be opened up for you will now be closed. Why? When you develop unforigiveness, which is the first step to you having the spirit of offense, it will prevent the Lord from hearing your prayers and blessing you with what you are asking Him for, Psalm 66:18. Remember, the only way that the Lord can forgive us of our trespasses is if we forgive others of theirs, Matthew 6:9-13.

Having a spirit of offense will cause people to walk away from you and stay away– When someone is consistently offended for everything, they are typically a negative person. People do not want to associate themselves with someone that is always looking at everyone else in the worst light but can never see the plank in their own eye, Matthew 7:3. The fragrance that the spirit of offense radiates is stench and nobody wants to be around that.

The spirit of offense will prevent you from finding true love and happiness– If you have this demonic spirit operating in your life, its goal is to make sure that you stay unhappy and lonely. It will prevent you from having authentic relationships and friendships because of your inability to apologize when you’re wrong, forgive others when they are wrong, and your inability of letting the Lord fight your battles for you instead of taking matters into your own hands.

Conclusion

There are many different signs that can show you that you are dealing with the spirit of offense in your life. Two of the ones that can ensure that you are heading in the direction of one of Satan’s most used strongholds are taking everything personal and the inability to take criticism. What happens is the fact that you think everything is about you and everyone is out to get you can lead to you becoming routinely offended.

Also, if you have the inability to take healthy criticism from your loved ones not only will it prevent you from growing but it will also spring forth the root of bitterness. As you know that is an open door to the enemy and he will be more than happy to take that resentment and turn it into full blown continual offense.

Luckily there are things that can be done that can combat this demonic tactic of the enemy:

Get into your Word and stay in your Word
Pray without ceasing
Fast
Call on the name of Jesus, your help in times of trouble
Repent and turn away from the iniquity that is in your heart
Quench the enemy and his demonic kingdom by eliminating them from having a place in your life
Ask the Holy Spirit to give you direction, strength, and endurance to overcome!

It is not impossible and you can triumph over this demonic spirit that the enemy uses against us over and over again, but you have to be willing to genuinely put in the work!

I am linking other blogs pertaining to this topic below:

Spirit of Offense: Knowing the Signs (Pettiness and A Negative Mindset)

Forgiveness: Appreciate Your Enemies!

Forgiveness: Recognize the Need to Forgive!

Forgiveness: Learning How to Handle Offense!

Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 2

Spiritual Oppression-The Dangers of Open Doors to the Enemy-Part 3

The Armor of God

The Power of Your Tongue!

The Importance of Forgiveness!

What does it mean to walk by Faith and not by Sight?

7 Steps to Fighting Spiritual Oppression-Real Talk!