December 28, 2022
Spirit of Offense: Knowing the Signs (Impossible to Satisfy and Filled with Spite)
How does the Spirit of Offense Intensify in Your life?
The spirit of offense is one of the weapons that the enemy loves to use against Christians the most. It is a stumbling block, it stems from a root of bitterness, and it creates issues with every relationship that you will ever try to establish. Some of the biggest ways that this demonic spirit makes itself comfortable in your life is by the things that you watch, say, and hear.
The devil knows what your greatest weaknesses are and will use anything and everything to ensure that he can have you bound. If you are already dealing with bitterness, anger, animosity, and resentment what you watch, hear, and say can multiply those emotions.
For instance: if you are offended by something that your spouse said or did and during that time you binge watch reality shows that amplify how not to treat your significant other; those negative actions will impact your already built up anger. That is why God’s Word is so important; it has the ability to completely transform your frame of mind, Romans 12:2.
The power of God through the Scriptures is what can make you see your situation in a different light, Hebrews 4:12. Another example of what can intensify the spirit of offense in your life is the things that come out of your mouth. If you are at odds with a family member, close friends, or even your children; what you say can help or hinder your level of offense.
If you speak negatively to an already negative situation it will feed that spirit that is trying to make you develop a stronghold. The Word of God lets us know that death and life is in the power of your tongue, Proverbs 18:21. The devil and his demons know that and will take advantage of the adverse way that you are speaking into your situation. It gives them greater access into your life and they will come in and wreak havoc.
The third way that the spirit of offense can intensity is by what you listen to. If you are already upset, angry, or overly emotional what you listen to is going to make all the difference. For instance: if you just got done getting into an argument with one of your closest friends and you became offended in the process, the last thing that you want to do is listen to a song with a bunch of cussing in it revving up your spirit in a negative way.
This will ensure that your stressed situation will become ten times worse. What you allow to go into your ears is what is going to linger in your spirit. That is why music is so powerful. It can usher in the presence of Jesus Christ or it can help usher in the influence of the enemy. You have to be extremely careful about the things that you allow in your ear gates.
Having a spirit of offense can hinder your life in so many ways mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and physically. It is not worth you opening up this door to the enemy to create and establish long lasting strongholds. The ways that I mentioned above are ways that you can strengthen this demonic spirit’s grip if you are not careful.
Luckily there are ways that you can identify if this spirit is working in your life. I am highlighting two of them: impossible to satisfy and filled with spite. This can help you put an end to the behaviors that can lead to long lasting repercussions. Don’t underestimate the enemy’s tactics, he wants nothing more than to kill, steal, and destroy you, John 10:10. We need to remain vigilant of his devices, 2 Corinthians 2:11.
Impossible to Satisfy
If you are the type of person that is impossible to satisfy, you could be dealing with the spirit of offense. This one directly correlates with having a negative mindset. If you find yourself turning all positive things into an offensive event you might want to begin to pay attention to your behaviors. The inability to be satisfied can hinder almost every single relationship that you will ever have whether it is with your spouse, children, family, or friends.
The fact of the matter is; no matter what people do or how well they do it, it is never good enough for you. Even when someone blesses you, you end up turning it into something negative. You will find it extremely difficult to give people the benefit of the doubt and you want to do everything in your own way. You will be disturbed by the little things and get upset when you feel that things are not done to your standard.
Your main goal is to follow your own selfish ambition while disregarding the feelings of others. You will allow unresolved offenses to peak their heads when it is beneficial for you. One powerful verse of Scripture pertaining to the inability to be satisfied is: Proverbs 18:19, “A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city, And contentions are like the bars of a castle.” What that means is that your offense is so deep that it is easier for someone to invade Fort Knox than to get through to you. That is what you call having a rock of offense or a stumbling block.
If you are exhibiting these kinds of behaviors, you definitely want to gain control of it before they turn into deep rooted strongholds that can be challenging to break. If you sense that you are never happy in any relationship regardless of how much the other person is doing for you, there could be some issues that need to be managed.
Consistently giving others unrealistic expectations that you want them to meet but you wouldn’t be able to achieve them yourself if asked. That is a problem! Relationships are always about compromise, communication, and understanding but the spirit of offense will prevent you from seeing things from the other person’s perspective. You will never be able to see the plank that is stuck in your own eye in any situation, Matthew 7:3-5.
Two great verses of Scripture that will let you know whether or not you are displaying the fruit of the spirit (Holy Spirit) is Galatians 5:22-23 the Apostle Paul writes, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Not anger, animosity, bitterness, offensiveness, or the inability to be pleased no matter the circumstance.
The way that you are towards others is a direct reflection of what is inside your heart, Proverbs 23:7. So if you aren’t showing these positive attributes to those around you, you are not exhibiting the Lord’s Spirit. Luckily there are some things that can be done to stop the spirit of offense from creating chaos in your life.
The first step is to recognize your behavior as something that is not beneficial for your Christian walk in the kingdom of God. Ask for the help of the Holy Spirit to give you the strength and direction that you need to get you to a place where you can overcome this strong device that the enemy is using against you.
Take a step back and analyze your spiritual growth, is it non-existent? Do you feel like you are taking the proper steps to pursue the things of God? Are you getting into your Word on a daily basis and actually applying it to your life? These are some of the things that you can ask yourself if you feel like you could be dealing with the spirit of offense. Remember, an offended person is hard to reason with because all you can think about is what someone said or did to you.
The grace of God and God’s love has the ability to give you the strength to be in a spiritual position where this bait of Satan no longer has a grasp on you. You have to be willing to put in the work that it is going to take to prevent this spirit from invading and taking over!
Some Scriptures that you can meditate on regarding the inability to be satisfied are:
- Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
- Philippians 4:11-12 “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.”
- 1 Timothy 6:7-8 “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.”
- Proverbs 16:8 “Better is a little with righteousness, Than vast revenues without justice.”
- Luke 12:15 “And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.”
Filled with Spite
If you are completely filled with spite it can be one of the main signs that you are dealing with the spirit of offense. If revenge, retaliation, and vengeance is on your mind consistently pertaining to anyone that has said or done something to you, you might want to investigate those emotions. We are all going to have moments when someone does something to us and our immediate reaction is to strike back, but if this is an ongoing theme in your life the enemy might have something to do with it.
A way that you can conclude whether or not you are filled with spite is if you just can’t let things go. Years have gone by and you still have built up animosity for someone that offended you and they could be living in the same house as you. Not only do you want to make sure that they pay, you want to make sure that you make them pay as much as possible. One time just isn’t enough!
We have to be very cautious about taking matters into our own hands as the body of Christ. The Lord is extremely clear on this matter, in Romans 12:19-21 the Apostle Paul writes, “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore
“If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Here we can see that the Lord is letting us know that we are not to repay the people that have wronged us, rather we are to give it to Him to handle it, and He will!
Another example that will let you know that you might be dealing with the spirit of offense is if you get your children involved in your bitterness. For example: your sister did something to you that you deem unforgivable and so you don’t speak to her. If you are forcing your children to eliminate communication with her and everyone associated with her including her children, you could have a spirit of offense.
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen families so broken up that first cousins don’t even know each other. If they were to see one another on the street they wouldn’t even know that they are related. Life is way too short to live in a state of consistent offense and so many people’s lives are ruined by the actions of others. We allow our own hearts to get in the way of true happiness. Keep in mind, whatever is in your heart is who you truly are and it will affect how you think.
One of the main things that the Lord hates is pride, proverbs 16:5. So, if you are regularly filled with spite it is showing your lack of humility. It takes a deep level of meekness to forgive someone that has done something to you, but it takes an even deeper level of humbleness to ask for forgiveness. Spite will most definitely get in the way of you having the ability of doing that.
The devil loves to take all of these adverse emotions that you are feeling and multiply them. His goal is to make sure that you are in such a state of offense that you can’t focus on anything else including the things of God. Trust and believe, he will plant thoughts in your head, place people in your direction, and hinder you with situations that will invite the spirit of offense to come in and create chaos.
That is why the Apostle Paul goes into such depth about having the full armor of God on at all times. In Ephesians 6:11-13 Paul writes, “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
I go into detail on every piece of armor that the Lord provides us with in my article: The Armor of God.
The bottom line is that we are in a spiritual battle daily and our adversary, the devil, does not play fair. He will use any tactic against you to make sure that you are bound and stay bound. We have to remain intentional about reading our Word daily, fasting, praying, and applying the Word of God to our daily walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Scriptures pertaining to dealing with spite are:
- Psalm 140:3 “They sharpen their tongues like a serpent; The poison of asps is under their lips. Selah”
- Ephesians 4:30-31 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.”
- 1 Peter 2:1 “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking.”
- Proverbs 24:29 “Do not say, “I will do to him just as he has done to me; I will render to the man according to his work.”
- Romans 12:17 “Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men.”
Conclusion
The spirit of offense is one of Satan’s most used devices. This demonic invasion can destroy every aspect of your life if you allow it to. There are signs that you can look for that will give you an indication that you could be dealing with this powerful influence.
Two of the main signs that reveal the effects of habitual offense are: impossible to satisfy and filled with spite. If you can recognize the signs that the spirit of offense is working in your life, you can do something about it. The key is the ability to allow yourself to be led by the Holy Spirit because He is the One that will guide you into all truth, John 16:13.
I am linking other blogs pertaining to this topic below:
Spirit of Offense: Knowing the Signs (Taking Everything Personal and Unable to Take Criticism)
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 Importance of Forgiveness!
What does it mean to walk by Faith and not by Sight?
7 Steps to Fighting Spiritual Oppression-Real Talk!
Why Is the Cross of Christ so Significant?
Also, get your week started right! Check out my Positive Quote for the Week Series down below:
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Below are some books that I have personally read that I recommend to help you get set free from the enemy and his devices. Each one provides you with warfare practices that you can apply to your daily life. Just click on the Link below the book and it will lead you straight to it. You will not be disappointed!
