The Devil Made Me Do It !

One of the fringe benefits of being a Christian is that we get to blame everything bad about ourselves on the Devil. Even better, we have an army of fellow believers, some of which are quick to come to our aid at times and even validate the Enemy by acknowledging that fact while “nurturing” us through our sin. But should we blame the Enemy? Should the Enemy get the credit he desires?

Even though our sovereign God has allowed us the freedom to choose by will of our own to do right by one another and make wise choices (James 1:5), on the flip side we are allowed the same freedom to choose to wrong someone or make wrong choices. It stands to reason then why repentance is rarely a one-time-shot deal. It’s just too dang easy to blame the Enemy for our bad behavior. I think habitually blaming the Enemy is why so many Christians languish in the belly fat of their own indignation rather than flourish by the visceral strength of the Holy Spirit. Let’s face it-it’s easy to lose credibility if we become content to blame all that is bad and all that goes wrong on the Enemy while not taking responsibility for our own actions. We choose to give credit for all that is good to God because it is to His Glory we do so and it pleases Him. On the other hand, it seems we should refuse to give credit to the Enemy for the bad things we do because it validates him and he flourishes in our filth…he wallows and rolls in it like a dog that comes upon new-found stink! I choose to not give the Enemy credit for anything or he becomes my “crutch” and I, his pleasure. Interesting how non-believers think we Christians need God for our “crutch” but ironically it is Satan often serves that purpose. The crutch of God keeps us upright and healed but the crutch of Satan keeps us crippled. Think about that.

With all that said, I believe especially as believers, we could do better about accepting personal responsibility for our actions, quit blaming others including the Enemy because you know-some people just choose to be nasty, rude, disrespectful, self-centered, perverted and worse with no outside help.

Embracing the idea that all blame can be given to the Enemy tends to rob a person of initiative to seek lasting change from God and let’s face it, WE are our own worst enemy…not the Enemy.