Do Not Give Satan a Foothold
In Warren Wiersbe's book The Strategy of Satan, he follows his discussion of the four tests of faith by writing about how to avoid letting Satan gain a foothold in our lives.
Ephesians 4:27 says, "And do not give the devil and opportunity." In other words, do not give him "a chance to operate." (p. 101) Wiersbe asks the reader to consider six sins than can give Satan a foothold in our lives.
The first is lying. Satan himself is a liar. When we chose to believe a lie, "then the devil can work in (our) life." (p. 102) We would be wise to filter all things through Philippians 4:8 which reminds us to focus on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise. This first sin is not referring to someone who lies occasionally, but for the person who "makes lying the love of his life and whose life is characterized by deceit." (p. 103)
The next area of sin to be aware of is anger. Jesus exhibited righteous anger, but that is not something most Christians can rightly display. "Our sinful nature has a way of polluting our emotions so that they often do more harm than good." (p. 105) Acting in anger can cause us to say things we'll later regret or make decisions than can hurt us or others.
Next is stealing. "Satan is a thief." (p. 105) We can steal in many ways. As followers of Christ, we take our fellow man as well as our fear of the Lord into consideration when choosing to live with integrity.
Filthy speech is the next sin. This refers to "low humor, jesting that is dirty" (p. 107); anything that tears down instead of building another person up. What we say is a reflection of our heart. "If Satan can get us to think about sin, and then talk about sin, he will have an easier time tempting us to commit sin. When we talk freely about filthy things, it takes the edge off our conviction; we get accustomed to it, and soon the barriers are down." (p. 107)
An unforgiving spirit is another sin of which to beware. "The believer who harbors bitterness and malice in his heart is giving Satan one of his most effective" strongholds. (p. 107) When someone wrongs you, forgive them from your heart right away. "The longer you harbor an unforgiving spirit, the more territory Satan will gain in your life." (p. 107)
The final sin Wiersbe talks about is slander. "Slander can hurt a person." (p. 108) Love does not ignore sin or condone sin, but out of love for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to refrain from "exposing (their) sin before the eyes of the world and weak Christians. We should not use another person's weakness to "make ourselves look better." (p. 109)
"Any sin that we harbor in our lives, that we know is there and yet we refuse to acknowledge and confess, will give Satan a (stronghold) for further attacks." (p. 110) There is no such thing as "a little sin". "Nothing is 'little' if Satan can use it to attack you!" (p. 110)
Ephesians 4:27 says, "And do not give the devil and opportunity." In other words, do not give him "a chance to operate." (p. 101) Wiersbe asks the reader to consider six sins than can give Satan a foothold in our lives.
The first is lying. Satan himself is a liar. When we chose to believe a lie, "then the devil can work in (our) life." (p. 102) We would be wise to filter all things through Philippians 4:8 which reminds us to focus on things that are true, honorable, right, pure, lovely, of good repute, excellent and worthy of praise. This first sin is not referring to someone who lies occasionally, but for the person who "makes lying the love of his life and whose life is characterized by deceit." (p. 103)
The next area of sin to be aware of is anger. Jesus exhibited righteous anger, but that is not something most Christians can rightly display. "Our sinful nature has a way of polluting our emotions so that they often do more harm than good." (p. 105) Acting in anger can cause us to say things we'll later regret or make decisions than can hurt us or others.
Next is stealing. "Satan is a thief." (p. 105) We can steal in many ways. As followers of Christ, we take our fellow man as well as our fear of the Lord into consideration when choosing to live with integrity.
Filthy speech is the next sin. This refers to "low humor, jesting that is dirty" (p. 107); anything that tears down instead of building another person up. What we say is a reflection of our heart. "If Satan can get us to think about sin, and then talk about sin, he will have an easier time tempting us to commit sin. When we talk freely about filthy things, it takes the edge off our conviction; we get accustomed to it, and soon the barriers are down." (p. 107)
An unforgiving spirit is another sin of which to beware. "The believer who harbors bitterness and malice in his heart is giving Satan one of his most effective" strongholds. (p. 107) When someone wrongs you, forgive them from your heart right away. "The longer you harbor an unforgiving spirit, the more territory Satan will gain in your life." (p. 107)
The final sin Wiersbe talks about is slander. "Slander can hurt a person." (p. 108) Love does not ignore sin or condone sin, but out of love for our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, we are to refrain from "exposing (their) sin before the eyes of the world and weak Christians. We should not use another person's weakness to "make ourselves look better." (p. 109)
"Any sin that we harbor in our lives, that we know is there and yet we refuse to acknowledge and confess, will give Satan a (stronghold) for further attacks." (p. 110) There is no such thing as "a little sin". "Nothing is 'little' if Satan can use it to attack you!" (p. 110)
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