“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
The “blame game” is nothing new.
It began in the Garden of Eden – deeply rooted in satanic influence.
It is a convenient way of transferring the responsibility of an error to another
person, circumstances or whatever fits the situation, or offense. In Genesis chapter 3, Adam and Eve disobeyed God –
sinned, and blamed one another. Adam lamented to God, “It was that woman you gave me.” Eve blamed the serpent,
“The serpent deceived me.” The serpent, well, he could care less who blamed him, mission accomplished. He was
already ejected from Heaven with a sealed fate – hell. It didn’t matter to him at all.
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It is easy to shift the blame in another direction when found to be at fault.
Numerous inmates have blamed a horrible childhood for the rape and murders they have committed. As they testify, “My
mother didn’t love me,” “My daddy beat me,” or, “We grew up poor” – none of these
excuses negate personal responsibility. It is true that some ugly things can happen to us in life; nonetheless, injustice
does not excuse ungodly behavior. It is a natural inclination for mankind to
try to wiggle out of a sticky situation by blame shifting – we learned this in childhood. In many situations, it doesn’t
matter who takes the weight – Momma, Daddy, or better yet, “The devil made me do it!”
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But here’s the truth of the matter. Satan can only influence our thoughts, actions, and many of the decisions that we make in life. He does not have absolute control
over mankind, however, because he has studied each one of us, he knows which buttons lie exposed, and can be pushed under
the right circumstances. The devil can only influence what is already within our hearts. He took advantage of curiosity in the Garden of Eden to capture Eve’s attention – she gazed upon the beautiful forbidden
fruit – listened to the wrong voice, and found herself caught in the scheme of the devil. Eve exercised her free will, and the devil capitalized on her freedom of choice – hence – The Fall.
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It isn’t that the devil can manipulate humans like a puppeteer by jerking
our intellectual and emotion strings as he so desires. No, he knows mankind just as well as God does, and he knows how to
recognize our faults and weaknesses, but he is limited as to what he can do in the life of a true child of God. Satan watches
and prowls around the earth to find the chink in the armor of God’s children, causing a stumbling, and seeking to destroy
(Job 2:1-10; 1 Peter 5:8). I am sure that he hates the fact that a child of God can confess his faults to God, repent, and go in another direction
– forgiven for the offense. And this is the very reason that the devil is relentless in his search to find one who is
not on guard (1 Corinthians 10:12; Ephesians 6:18; 1 Peter 5:8).
In Luke 22:31, Jesus informed Simon Peter that Satan wanted to prove that he could find that chink in Peter’s armor. During the Last
Supper, (The Lord’s Supper), the disciples disputed amongst themselves about who was the “greatest.” It
was Peter that Satan had his eye on at this time:
“And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have
you, that he may sift you as wheat:”
The New American Standard Bible (NASB), states that “Satan has demanded
permission…”
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Satan does not have absolute control over mankind as previously stated. He
must “ask” for permission, and in some cases he may “demand” permission to “test the sons of
men” (Ecclesiastes 3:18). We will elaborate on this point later on. When Satan set his sights on Peter to cause him to stumble, Peter himself was
“the wheat, his self-confidence the chaff.” Peter had a worldly ambition to be the “greatest” among
the disciples of Jesus, but he soon found himself denying our Lord, not once, but three times. It was Peter’s ambition
that Satan focused on, and caused him to fall. Praise is to God, Peter repented, and he was restored.
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When it comes to domestic violence and abuse, it is the contents of our hearts
that Satan utilizes to wreck havoc. If one is prone to anger, and violence – this is what the devil will exploit. How?
He will instigate situations that will cause a child of God much grief and heartache. One such way is via relationships. You
meet a man that claims to love God deeply, and everything seems just peachy in the beginning. Once the honeymoon is over,
and sometimes long before then, the abuse and violence commences. In this case, the devil knows when we are at our weakest,
and long for companionship. When we run ahead of God, and seek to eliminate our loneliness on our own, we find nothing but
trouble. If we are impatient, and do not exercise our faith that God will bring us a mate, in His own time, Satan will be
more than happy to send you a substitute - a delusion.
