Recently, I have been made aware of just a few of the crippling lies that Satan feeds us to keep us from being used by God to our full potential, as Christians. And not only are such realisations limited to within my group of Christian friends and conversation; in fact, I find examples of them even in the literature that I’m reading for class! Satan is cunning, probably more cunning than we give him credit for.
I never realised, for example, how masterful he can be at getting girls (and probably boys, too) to think that they are worthless. But he’s pretty darn good at it. The Bible says otherwise; the Bible says that you are, in fact, so worth it that God was willing to sacrifice His Son just so that you could live with Him forever. The best part is, He did that before you even knew about Him, much less before you even cared–while you were still doing displeasing things, He loved you. He created you, He protects you, He knows you by name; just read Psalm 139 for a picture of His love for you.
Unfortunately, Satan is also pretty good at using us to corroborate the idea that a person is worthless. If you have never thought about how the way you treat people, even people you don’t know, can affect the way they see themselves, then I beg that you do so. The smallest things can make huge impacts. Be careful what you do, and very careful what you say…because, dare I say it, someone’s very life could hang in the balance.
This morning, as I read “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I was struck with another lie that Satan effectively uses to crush some Christians into lethargy: “You are alone in this struggle.” Poor Goodman Brown took this idea to his head, and the narrator described the end of his life, his last moments, as “gloom”. And what had he done for God to that point? Nothing. He’d been a sourpuss, condemning his fellow men because he assumed them all to be devil-worshippers, and of course he was holier than they. But he was also lonely. The Bible says that no one is tempted with something that someone else hasn’t also faced, so you’re not alone in your temptation. And, believer, let me assure you that you are not the only one trying to live for God in today’s society. Even Noah had sons helping him build his boat, and when Elijah despaired of being the only one left God reminded Him of a remnant of prophets hidden away.
But, even if you were alone, what excuse is that to not share God’s love with someone else? Is it not even more reason to do so?
Finally, let me say this: though Satan is cunning, he is also the loser. God has demonstrated (as if He needed to!) that He is more powerful than the devil when He raised His son from the grave. He has already won the war.
You are not worthless, and you are not alone.
