“You Are Your Past” // Discussion with the Devil

Do you ever talk to yourself? If so, don’t worry! It’s totally normal. In fact, a recent poll found that 97% of people admitted to self-talk. We talk to ourselves to debate a decision, to think through ideas, to give ourselves a pep talk. Some people actually engage in self-talk to create a “presence” around them—something that makes them feel like they aren’t alone. But...what if we’re not alone? What if there is a “presence” around us, but not one that we created? You see, sometimes the voice that we hear isn’t “self”, but something more sinister. Scripture tells us that our Enemy is the Father of Lies—and he is not an idle opponent. He is an active force, feeding us falsehood after falsehood to disrupt God’s work in our lives. But we’re not helpless in our discussion with the Devil. We can answer every lie that the Enemy throws our way with timeless truth from God. We can combat the fear, shame, and hopelessness at every turn. And we can make sure that the Devil never gets the last word.

We all have a past. We all have mistakes. We all have regrets. And what the Devil tries to do is get us to fall into the mindset that those things define us—that who we were before Jesus is who we still are. But the good news of the Gospel is that those who are in Christ are new people with a new lease on life. And because of that, our past—no matter where we’ve been or what we’ve done—can actually be redeemed and used to the glory of God!