We all have fallen into Satan's snares. His pleasure comes from our pain. But all of God's instructions in the Bible are protective. For example, God hates divorce. Satan loves it. What is the common denominator? Pain. Satan wants us pain-filled. God wants to protect us. God doesn't want us sleeping-around. Why? Here comes the pain concept again: Disease. Unplanned pregnancies. Broken hearts. Degradation. And more... God doesn't want us to lie. Why? It brings about pain in a myriad of ways...sooner or later. Worry (yes it is a sin) brings pain and discomfort in ways you may not even be able to recognize in your own life. Worry is a rampant sin, bringing undue pain to millions daily. I could write volumes about the things God tells us to avoid, why they bring us pain, and I could illustrate that pain is a KEY factor in why God tells us to not do these things.
A friend of mine and I were talking about this concept yesterday. It seems simple. By not being obedient to God, we invite pain into our lives with wide open arms. In contrast, when we are obedient to God, the pain levels drastically decrease and the joy levels skyrocket. This is not quantum physics. It is simple. Yet, we all struggle with sin. Even if we've lost a few brain cells over the years, the concept is still quite elementary. SIN=PAIN.
Satan is at the center of the dilemma. He dresses sin up and tries to deceive us by its appearance, hoping we won't recognize it in its disguise. Here is an example: For some, he re-packages sex to look like love. Those desperate for love are most susceptible to this deception. He cross-dresses adultery and makes it look like relief (from a miserable marriage). He dresses up alcohol or drugs as an escape from real-life or an enhancement to a good time. He takes anything dangerous to us and dresses it up like something else. He knows that its real purpose is not what the advertising suggests. The results are all the same--pain. It doesn't matter what the scenario is, sin (in any of its forms) brings pain. Sometimes the pain is not immediate, sometimes it is. Either way, the pain WILL come.
We know that Satan uses what we most desire to lure us into sin. That's where we have to be discerning. We need to look more closely at the things that come into our lives appearing to be what we desire. We must be proactive and look under the packaging to see if it is the real deal or Satan's repackaged sin. To be most successful in this process, we must be acutely aware of what areas in our lives are most susceptible. We can lazily take a quick moment and mentally list our problem areas. Or we can write them down and daily review what events, conversations, thoughts etc...need to be monitored more closely. If we feel that we are coming close to one of Satan's cross-dressed sins, we can take appropriate measures and/or put appropriate boundaries into place before we blindly embrace it.
There is enough unavoidable pain in this life. We don't want to be inviting more into our lives by falling victim to those nasty cross-dressed sins.
4 comments:
Although I absolutely love the "wolf dressed in sheep's clothing" picture you used, I must admit that my first thought (explains a lot about me) was, now there's a warm wolf at the expense of some unfortunate sheep.
You are indeed correct about the pain and the packaging. Many people choose the moral high ground, but are begiled by the alure of new clothes, a new car, lazered eyes, exotic vacations, vastly improved physical appearance, and other things that pull them into debt. Then comes the pain growing out of the strain on relationships, the need for additional income, the problems of not being able to meet obligations. And when Satan has us right where he wants us (unhappy), he gives us memory. We remember just how stupid we were to get ourselves into the mess to begin with. Oh yeah, and if our memory fails us, someone (bill collectors, friends, parents or everyone) will remember for us.
You are correct when you advise us to THINK BEFORE we act. MOST trouble, and the pain attached, can be avoided by THINKING BEFORE acting.
Excellent post as always my friend. It is SO true how Satan takes the things in our lives that he knows we tend to struggle with and uses them against us at EVERY opportunity. THANK YOU for the reminder. By the way...very interesting picture you included....WEIRD actually :)
It's a wolf in sheeps clothing.
You know...?
Yeah, I understood the analogy in the picture. It's just very "freaky" looking. Definitely an attention grabber...which is the idea I suppose. :)
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