“Success is defined by a continuing desire to be the person God called you to be and to achieve those goals that God helps you to set,” (Charles Stanley)
Living a successful Christian life also entails achieving our God-given purpose, requiring total surrender, reliance, and obedience to God in spite of Satan’s “steal, kill, and destroy” tactics he uses against Christians in spiritual warfare (John 10:10). This article discusses the devil’s strategies to prevent us from successfully being a light that shines Christ in this dying world.
Satan’s “Steal, Kill, And Destroy” Tactics
- Find agreement with lies in your thinking
Satan is the “father of lies.” He likes to implant lies in our thoughts, trying to lure us into sin, unsound decisions, negative emotions, hopelessness, and or apathy – all of which can potentially undermine freedom and make us ineffective Christians. For example, Satan might make us think:
I am unloved, not good enough, not strong enough.
I will fail so I shouldn’t try.
It is okay to sin.
God is angry at me.
God will not forgive me.
God is not on my side.
God will not meet my needs.
People are against me.
I am my own worst enemy.
I am all on my own.
These thoughts are only harmful when believed – if our minds find agreement with them. We must recognize when Satan is telling us lies, take them captive, and not listen to them: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
- Train you to think you are your worst enemy
Humans are imperfect decision-makers and often create unstable conditions for themselves and others. “Sin causes us to desire ugly things, say hurtful things, and do wicked things”. We “reap what we sow”, and often we sow bad seeds. Often Satan lures us into bad decisions and actions; other times, he just watches us do it on our own. As we repeatedly sow bad seeds producing bad fruit, we begin to think we are our own worst enemy as Satan implants thoughts in our minds. We may then feel guilty, shameful, and defeated, and Satan may tell us to cease being a light for Jesus.
Whenever we think we are our worst enemy, we must habitually practice the same grace, kindness, and patience toward ourselves that God daily does to us when we fail Him. We must learn from our failures and not give up.
The Apostle Paul was an imperfect man who must have thought he was his own worst enemy as he persecuted Christians. Years later, he completed his purpose of writing some of the New Testament. He didn’t allow past sin or the lies of Satan to deter him from living a successful Christian life. In Philippians 3:12-14, Paul writes:
“I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us”.
We must learn from our mistakes, forget the past, and move onward with life, resiliently striving to live a successful Christian life
- Accuse and condemn you
When Satan tempts us to sin, he first minimizes the consequences of sin, and after we do the transgression, he maximizes the consequences we will incur because of it. He tries to cause you to feel guilt and shame for committing the act and may tell us, “God is angry and may choose not to accept, love, and forgive, and no longer be a perfect father to you because of what you did.”
The truth is that God is omniscient and cognizant of all your sins before Christ died on the cross; thus, if you are a Christian, you are justified (legally declared righteous) as Christ paid the penalty for all of your sins. You are justified forever, meaning you will always be legally declared righteous for every sin you commit. And because you are righteous in the eyes of the Judge (God), Abba Father will always choose to eternally love, completely forgive, and totally accept you, as if you never sinned, even though we do habitually.
- Deteriorate your relationships / Cultivate a sense of separation to love
Mark DeJesus once said: “Your two greatest needs are to know you are loved and to know who you are”. Satan likes to lure people to sin and to show a lack of love to others, hoping it would ultimately deteriorate relationships and create a sense of separation from love in people in an attempt to undermine identity. In addition, Satan implants his lies in people’s minds, telling them they are unloved and worthless and that the probability of being loved by certain others is unrealistic.
Repeatedly being unloved by someone can cause emotional wounds and lead to distrust in the integrity of the unloving person and also in the value of the current relationship. Fear of getting hurt again can push the injured person away from a relationship with the unloving individual. As emotional wounds deepen, rejection mindsets tend to develop.
A rejection mindset is a thinking mindset where a person, after failing to receive sufficient love, increasingly believes that the majority of people would ultimately reject and not love them, so they often either avoid relationships altogether or, if they are brave enough to start one, their rejection mindset stunts the growth of intimacy in the relationship. People with a rejection mindset usually have a poor self-image and a weak identity, as they see themselves as inferior to how God daily sees and proposes them to be. These individuals are usually insecure, unhappy, unconfident, feel purposeless, struggle to make decisions, and have low self-esteem, much more than a person with a strong identity. Satan wants us to have a weak identity so we can perceive ourselves as unloved, purposeless, defeated Christians in hopes we will ultimately behave like one.
Many Christians have a father’s wound, where their earthly father failed to properly love and equip them as a child. Because the unloving father was an improper role model to his children, in being an accurate representation of what the character of Abba Father is like, many Christians erroneously believe God will treat them and love them in a likewise manner that their unloving earthly father previously did. Those suffering from a father’s wound typically have a rejection mindset toward God, birthed from the lack of love received from their earthly father. Mark DeJesus reinforces this: “If we want to experience God’s love in greater dimension, we will need to know who He is as a Father. But for most people, our father lens has been wounded, so we struggle to relate to God in a His love”.
Our identity rests in God’s relentless tenderness for us revealed in Jesus Christ.” (Brennan Manning)
God is a perfect father. He considers all of His children valuable as the price God paid for our justification and adoption was His Son’s blood shed on the cross. Before we became Christians, we were enemies of God. Still, God chose Christ to die so we can be justified and adopted. In spite of all our imperfections, God chose to eternally love, totally accept, and completely forgive us. He is also slow to anger; each time we sin and transgress His holiness, He always gives us perfect mercy and grace. God is a perfect father, unlike your imperfect earthly father.
To those with a father’s wound, God sees your hurts with perfect love and compassion. Since perfect love can heal any wound, choose to receive His perfect love and healing. Don’t listen to the lies of your rejection mindset.
‘When we experience God’s love, we realize how significant we are in God’s eyes. It is being loved by God the Father, that defines our identity” (Mark DeJesus). When we finally comprehend how powerful our identity is, we can become increasingly inspired to live a victorious Christian life.
“If your identity is found in Christ, then it matters less and less what people think of you” (Leonard Sweet).
“Knowing your identity in Christ makes you feel unbreakable because no matter what Satan tries to do to you, you know how strong you are in Christ and that’s all the matter.” (Unknown).
“Understanding your identity in God starts with understanding who He is, what He says about Himself, and what He says about you” (Northstar Church). Until you firmly trust that God is a perfect father who perfectly loves you, you will have identity struggles. Don’t listen to Satan’s lies.
- Get you to forget who you are
God has a giant-sized purpose for you to achieve. You have been chosen by Him to make lives better, fulfill needs, help people find freedom, and be a light and God’s representative to this dying world. Everyone’s purpose is unique but also the same. You are a special creation.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).
”For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” (Psalm 139:13-14)
For more inspiration, please read this quotation by Hosanna Wong:
“Here’s what you must know: the Enemy’s greatest threat is children of God knowing who they are. He knows how powerful your life is and how important your choices are, so he is on a mission to make sure you don’t find out as well.
He knows that you are not unloved. He just wants you to think you are.
He knows you are not purposeless. He just wants you to think you are.
To be clear, the Enemy cannot change who we are. He doesn’t have that kind of power. His best plan is to make us doubt who we are. He knows that if we discover who we really are, we will start to live it out confidently. And the children of God living out their purpose poses the greatest threat to his plan. This is what he’s afraid of.”
You have been chosen by God for a purpose. You are God’s child, loved by a perfect father in heaven. Never let Satan make you forget who you are.
- Discourage you and wear you out
“When you know you are loved, one of the greatest blessings is how love actually casts out fear. You demolish and banish fear when love is truly present.” (Mark DeJesus)
When you firmly know a perfect Abba Father loves you and that He is your perfect Shepherd, His perfect love casts out our fear. Thus, Satan implants falsehoods in our minds, luring us to believe otherwise.
Satan uses adversity to make us weary and discouraged through fear and doubt. God uses trials to mold us into confident, victorious, fearless soldiers of Christ, strengthening our faith and perseverance.
As you face trials and fear, always focus on the truths of His promises, character, and love for you. “And you shall know the truth, and it shall set you free.” (John 8:32).
Sources:
Experiencing God’s Love As Your Father, Mark DeJesus
The Heart Healing Journey: Awaken, Heal, And Transform Your Life, Mark DeJesus
God Is Not Mad At You, Joyce Meyer
You Are More Than You’ve Been Told, Hosana Wong
Various Mark DeJesus YouTube Videos