The Devil Made Me Do It

Flip Wilson, the first Black comedian to have his own show or at least that was what I thought as a child, coined what became the favorite mantra of my time: the devil made me do it. Why did you lie? The devil made me do it. Why did you cheat? The devil made me do it. Why did you lie and cheat? The devil, dammit…lol. This became the reason of choice for whatever, whenever and wherever. Back in the day, I could understand folks saying it who didn't claim to know God. But I marveled that people of faith were saying that too.

My Facebook friends are a myriad of folks of different cultures, different walks of life and yes, different faiths. Hailing from Pentecostal Holiness roots, there gots to be some born-again, spirit-filled, tongue-talking, holy-dancin friends as well. Holla! Of concern to me however is one reference I see all too often to none other than -- drum roll please – the devil. Why? Why all the "pray for me that the devil not…." Or "don't get too comfortable cause you know the devil will…" Whut? Or my all-time favorite, "chil, the devil's busy." Every time I hear that one, I want to shout, "BUT GOD IS BUSIER!"

I know that we don't mean any harm in our references to the devil. We want to show that we are mindful of him and not ignorant of his devices. I get that. But, if we were to be completely honest and take a step back, could it be that we talk about him too much.  It's as if the devil is the Bogey Man.  How can belief in God as All-powerful and All-knowing and a preoccupation with what the devil is doing coexist? Someone once told me that whenever you interject a but into a sentence, it cancels out everything said up until that point.  So when you say, "God is good, but gurl, you know the devil is always working," you are cancelling out how good God is.  Ouch!!

No one makes references to the devil as much as we Christians do. Why? Why spend so much time on the devil? Why say "I thank God for this job, but if the devil thinks I'm gonna work on Sundays he's a lie?"  Let me give you some free advice.  If God blessed you with a job that requires you to work on Sundays, then sing a Zion song and get to workin.

Now Suzette, tell me what you really think. Okay. I think it's this devil-consciousness and sin-consciousness that is the culprit.  It robs us of the abundant life we were created and later redeemed to have. It feels us with anxiety. We always feel chased, threatened.  All this intimidation. All this glorifying the devil. All this preoccupation with sin.  "Gurl, I got to go to church cause that man is breathin down my neck and I bind that devil in the name of Jesus." Do you really think God is impressed when you say that? My experience has been a resounding NO. My Wise Guide, My Wonderful Counselor knows how to get down to the root of the problem.  He knows when I'm coping out.  He knows when I use the Bible and His principles to avoid telling myself the truth.  Instead of binding a defeated foe, why not get down to the truth, what's lacking, what's broken. The truth is you are dealing with something even stronger than the devil. YOU.

What is that scripture? I can't quote it off the top of my head and I don't want to stop typing to google it. It talks about the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. I believe most human struggles are linked in some way to one or all of these three things. Modern terminology calls it The Ego. Codependence.  Poor self esteem.  The lack thereof will make us strain at a knat.

We don't get close to people because we have trust issues.  We can't build strong loving relationships with other people because we are sooooooo afraid of having sex. My God! As if having sex is the most awful thing in the world? As if it is a disease that needs to be eradicated? One would think that God didn't create it, the bad press it gets. We rush into marriages with folks we don't know. Sometimes it's lust and sometimes it's to avoid lusting (which by the way is lustin just the same). I even read on a preacher friend's post that he feels singles shouldn't date because of sex. Please! As if not dating will keep folks from having sex. New flash:  Folks...Are...Having...Sex. If they aren't having it with other people, they are having it with themselves or by themselves. If you don't know, you better ask somebody.

I'm not trying to insult anyone's beliefs or minimize anybody's struggles. Not at all. I just believe we need to tell ourselves the truth. As Dr. Phil says, "we can't change what we won't acknowledge."  The prevailing truth is this.  Jesus' blood not only washes away but it also redeems. When a sacrifice has been made for something, it is erased. When Jesus died, He said and I repeat, He said, IT IS FINISHED.  So my dear brothers and sisters, we have only one thing left to do.  Live.  The law upon which all the others are built-the law of love- requires it.

We choose. We choose whether we'll continue to live in fear or to live in faith. We choose. We choose life or we choose death. We choose. I choose to live a guilt-free life. I choose to own who I am and the life I live.  God knows me and has chosen to purchase me with an extended warranty. His blood covers all defects and all sins past, present and future. If God permits me to fall into temptation or to be overtaken by something, then I know that there is purpose even in that.  And it is not so he can damn me to hell.  He will get some glory out of loving me through it or helping me out of it. The longer I live and the more of God's forgiveness I allow to be absorbed into my tissues and my issues, the freer and more alive I feel. He is finishing me. And I am discovering that God is sooooo good at being The Finisher until I can rest in simply being Suzette.