The more I come to know and understand God, the more I *freakin* hate Satan.
(The only time I will genuinely use a reference to a swear word is in when referring to the stupid devil. Stupid just isn't strong enough. I haven't decided if that's holy or not... but for now I'm just going with it.)
I recently had an argument with someone. Or, uhhh, a misunderstanding, if you will.
Ok, alright, it was with my husband... Essentially, we were both motivated by sin of some sort, both were fighting for our perspective to be heard and both ultimately felt misunderstood by the other.
I hate arguing. But in that, I also hate an unsettled disagreement. So I will make you sit and "discuss" with me until we have things figured out, even if it takes all night long, dangit. Anyway, Ben and I had already been discussing for a very long time. He still didn't feel like I was understanding him, and I was still struggling to feel like I was heard, as well.
Our words were exhausted and so were our bodies (it was pretty late, ya'll), so I went upstairs to get ready for bed. As I was brushing my teeth, I looked in the mirror and the Lord gave me a revelation: I have to be the bigger person.
Immediately, I knew what that meant.
Not a bigger person than Ben, who I had been arguing with... but bigger than the enemy- the damn devil (That swear word is totally justifiable to use in reference to him, in my book)- who was the true one to blame... for the sinfulness effecting my heart and Ben's alike.
Now, sure- we are responsible for our own actions. We can't just go around being dumb, selfish, sinful humans and be ok with it 'cause "the devil made me do it." That's not what I mean here.
Allow me to elaborate.
In that moment, I remembered all that I knew was true about the devil.
He is constantly working on any and everyone he can to tear them down for the sheer sake of causing them distress, pain and separation from God. He thrives off of whispering lies to us until we believe them. He loves when those lies cause misunderstandings and strife between God's people. He lives to tear down the good work the Lord is doing in our hearts, and to replace love and peace and the fruits of the spirit with dissension and anxiety and all things opposite to who God is. What a loser.
That's what he does. He's good at it. And he's really real.
And I saw the effects that he had had on myself and on Ben, and the truth that we weren't acting "ourselves" because we were being influenced by something/some-devil outside of it all. If we don't stop to recognize it and ask ourselves what lies we've been believing, we may never see the truth of the work that damn devil has been doing on our hearts.
He's the worst! Literally.
So in that moment, I remembered how terrible he is slash how good he is at his job, thanks to a reminder from my kind, caring, wise and rather blunt Father.
I knew God was asking me to let it all go- everything that I had been fighting for- and just choose to love, instead.
I'm pretty stubborn and it's really hard for me to let go of things like this.
It seemed so hard to do at that moment. I looked back in the mirror and said in my head, through tears, I don't think I have it in me... and His response to me was beautiful. "But you have me in you."
ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ðŸ˜ Gosh, burst out bawling, right there, I did (and now I'm impersonating Yoda, apparently).
But, of course, Right!? That makes so much sense. I've got all the love in the world living inside me.
When the devil comes against us, he fights that love. So if we want to stomp on Satan's head like he deserves, we've got to do it with love. And in this case, it was love for my husband manifest in a choice to genuinely release my pride, offer him forgiveness and grace, and walk forward in loving him like God loves us- with no strings attached.
The devil will always be the root of sin in our hearts and minds. But we get to choose how to respond to his efforts. Will we even recognize them, first off? And then, will we give in to them and let him gain some ground? Or will we fight back? I say we fight back.
I love how the Bible puts it in Romans: overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:9-21)
The Bible talks a lot, too, about resisting the enemy and he will flee from you.
But he's so dang sneaky that we so often don't know to resist him because we don't recognize the lies he's been whispering. So we've got to be on guard (another scripture verse) and watching out for his sneaky schemes.
I want to be so real with you right now and just say as clearly as I can that the devil is so real!!
The more we can come to expect him messing with us, the more we will see it and be able to combat it. With God's love- the devil's real enemy!
Because, mostly, when Ben and I are arguing, we're fighting against each other. But when we are humble enough to stop, recognize the other person is not the real enemy here, but there's a third wheel hanging out spewing lies around cause he's a big fat loser, then, THEN we're on the same team- fighting against the same enemy and using the greatest weapon we have against him.
LOVE.
That's it, y'all.
ALSO, if you're pumped up about being righteously angry at Satan like I am, you should most definitely go and give this song a listen.
KB- Not Today Satan feat. Andy Mineo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4zLbbisG1Y
OR if like a softer, yet equally effective approach, give this one a try.
Hillsong United- Not Today
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