When I was a child we used to sing the song “Jesus loves me this I know…” and if that is true then the opposite is true, as well. Satan hates me this I know. From the beginning of time Satan has been trying to mess up God’s plan and God’s creation by taking over and deceiving people into following his way instead of God’s.
When we make the commitment to follow Christ and to love God with our whole being and to love others like we love ourselves then Satan hates us and will do everything in his power to get us to turn our back on God and to stop living for him. We must not fall for the lie that if we are doing everything right then God will not allow anything bad to happen to us. Jesus never did anything wrong and God allowed him to be tempted and to die a brutal death on a cross. We are promised hard times in this world. Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) It could be that the person who does the most good for God will suffer the greatest attacks from Satan.
As children of God we should have the attitude that we read about in the Bible in James 1:2, 3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.” The trials, temptations, and testing of our faith, builds character and is ultimately for our good. So, when we feel attacked let’s look for the lesson, look for the good that God can do with it, and rejoice because God is working towards our perfection in him.
