The Spirit of Offense.
Has somebody ever said something around you and you were
greatly offended by what they said? It
pierced you deeply, taking away your joy.
You may have said, ‘how could they have said that?, I thought I knew
them better than that.’. You may have
found that you replay the scene over and over again in your mind, and each time
it replays it continues to fuel resentment.
You continue to grow bitter as anger rises up inside of you. This is the spirit of offense and it is not
of God; it is demonic. Your heart is
telling you that they are only human and that you should forgive them, but the
spirit of offense tells you that you are better than them, because you would
never do that. It rises contention up
inside of you to the point where you can’t keep it in anymore and then you
share it with someone else. And
consequently the spirit jumps on them as well.
What are the fruits of this spirit?
Anger, bitterness, anxiety, strife.
Doesn’t sound like the fruit of the Comforter, does it?
I had a circumstance a little while ago when I was listening
to someone, whom I care about dearly, share his offense with me. He told me about how these different people,
whom are also friends I deeply care about, have offended him. I listened to him and counseled him the best
I could under the circumstances.
However, I couldn’t shake the feeling of sadness that my other friend
would have said these offensive things.
That very same day, I was talking to my other friend and sure enough, he
said something to me casually and most likely in jest and it crushed me. I thought, how could he say that? I thought I knew him better than that. Is that really where his heart is? I replayed that scene over and over again;
each time getting more and more bitter and convincing myself that I am
justified in feeling this way. I started
feeling self righteous, like I am a better person that he is, because I would
never say that. A little while later I
was in church and the worship team was playing.
This is one of my favorite times with God. I will take this time to thank God for His
goodness, and confess, proclaim, and
worship, and enter into a very close intimacy.
Well this time, every time I would close my eyes and start telling God
how much I love him and thanking him for all he does for me, I would be
interrupted by this replay of my offense.
I would see it over and over again.
I would get very disturbed and try to shake it off to get back into
worship and the same thing would happen.
This went on for about 15 minutes.
I couldn’t get any intimacy with my Lord and I started to feel an icky
darkness all around me. I finally
discerned that this was spiritual. It
was a demonic attack. This spirit of
offense had taken to me and was trying fiercely to keep me from fellowship with
my God. I took control of the situation
and bound that spirit and told it leave our church and then walked to the front
of the church to the alter, raised my hands to the Lord, repented for receiving
the offense and continued to enter into intimacy with God.
I am sharing this personal story because I have seen too
many people take offense at something or someone, especially within their
church. They will feed it and tend it
and grow it into monster which they will let loose on the friends that love
them and care enough to listen to them. Let
me tell you this as a fact. Offense is
something that you do not have to receive.
Somebody may say something that disturbs and distresses you, but it is
up to you as to whether to forgive or receive offense. Forgiveness is of Christ Jesus, Offense is of
the demonic. The more you replay that offense
in your mind and come into agreement with the demonic, the more you are driving
a wedge between you and intimacy with God.
I encourage you to judge the spirit by the fruit. What is the fruit that it is producing in
you. If it’s not love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, you
are coming into agreement with the wrong spirit. The next time that offense replays in your
mind, instead of agreeing with it, take authority over it and tell it to flee
from you by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Then immediately, repent for receiving the offense
and forgive your offender, as the Heavenly Father has also forgiven you.
And one more thing, when your friend comes to you and starts dumping in your ear about how someone said this or did that and they are crushed by it. Stop the conversation right there and ask them if you can pray for them. Start off by binding that spirit and then pray that they may forgive and receive healing. Do not let that spirit of offense sneak in on you.
And one more thing, when your friend comes to you and starts dumping in your ear about how someone said this or did that and they are crushed by it. Stop the conversation right there and ask them if you can pray for them. Start off by binding that spirit and then pray that they may forgive and receive healing. Do not let that spirit of offense sneak in on you.
