The Devil Is Emotionally Disturbed

I hold a private theory about the devil. I believe that he is emotionally disturbed. If you want to understand the devil, think in terms of a boaster, bully, con artist, and control freak rolled into one.

Satan is a person—yes, an individual—who thrives on loveless power and shuns the power of love. He is devoid of relational or personality health, yet nonetheless has charisma, possessing the uncanny ability to make evil appealing and wrong appear right. Haven’t you run across a few people like this?

The devil personifies manipulation. If you want to grasp his modus operandi, imagine any human behavior that is rigidly stubborn, seductive, conniving, divisive, or cruel, and you’ll have a snapshot of Satan. Jesus knew the devil well and said: “There is no truth in him. When he lies, he lies according to his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies” (Jn 8:44).

A lot of unwarranted fears about the devil are quelled by seeing him as the misguided narcissist that he is. Though Satan is cunning in the lives of those who follow his lead, he cowers when rebuked in Jesus’ name. He knows the truth of John’s words: “The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 Jn 3:8). 

Of course, Hollywood movies trump up Satan’s power by scripting him to hurl objects through the air and make lots of scary noises. Don’t fall for it. A little old grandmother with arthritis and cataracts can send Satan packing with a few words spoken in faith from the victory of the Cross: “Get out of here you devil, in Jesus’ name.”

Satan departs! James, among the pillars of the early church, offers solid counsel: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (Jas 4:7-8). 

The differences between Christ and the devil deserve mention. Jesus is faithful and true, offering abundant life to those who follow him. He loves you and takes pleasure in leading you toward wholeness and fulfillment. Christ is a faithful and true guide up the summit that leads to everlasting life.

Satan, on the other hand, is exploitive and deceptive. He pursues a warped agenda that always lets you down. The devil resents the air you breathe and would like nothing better than to strip your personality, trash your relationships, and dump you on a garbage heap, a trophy to his egotism. And he’s not without his methods: he happens to be an expert at luring people into futile lives through the behavioral reinforcement of short term gratification.

I was counseling a seventeen-year-old who suffered from depression. After helping him make some progress, I mentioned that given his history of depression, he might take care to avoid the three major poisons that are peddled to youth.

“What are they?” he asked.

“Smoking, drinking, and drugs,” I said.

He flashed a worldly-wise grin. “Oh, don’t worry about me, Dr. Dan. I already smoke, drink, and use—and I’m doing just fine.”

It is difficult to warn each new generation about the ever-present means of self-destruction that is available everywhere. Mostly, people have to do their own research in discovering how evil works, and how tedious or disheartening life without Christ can really get.

Paul offers a list of destructive behaviors that are as accurate today as they were two thousand years ago: “fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these” (Gal 5:19-21).

Christians can and do fall prey to these attitudes and actions. For this reason, it serves us well to cultivate a lifelong habit of asking the Lord’s forgiveness, and seeking the Holy Spirit’s counsel in making progress toward personality and relational wholeness.