Just the thought of someone breaking their word cuts us to the quick. A promise to pick up Mary after school? Don’t be late. Twenty dollars loaned? It had better be repaid. Our marriage vows? We never recover if they’re broken.
Betrayals rip our underpinnings from us. The closer to our heart the promise is, the deeper the broken trust burns. Sometimes that breach in believing cracks our foundations so badly we never recover. There’s never a time a betrayal is good.
Whoa, let’s back up one step. Actually, yes, there is.
What is betrayal? In its simplest from, it’s a broken trust. When someone believes in us, for whatever reason, and we don’t come through, they’re disappointed, and that’s betrayal. The deeper the trust bonds us emotionally, the more we feel betrayed when the trust is broken.
The devil wants us to place our trust in him. He promises us all sorts of things, like fame, money, and the pleasure of sensual living, if we promise to live for him. If we betray his trust, he is hurt; cut to the quick; betrayed.
We want to betray the promises of the devil.
Proverbs 6:16-19 gives us God’s encouragement to betray the devil:
“There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.”
1 John 1:9 tells us how to puncture the devil’s balloon:
“If we confess our sins, [God] is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
2 Corinthians 5:17 laughs at the devil’s disappointment:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”
2 Timothy 3:16 shows us how to keep punching the devil in the nose:
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”
When we betray the devil, we step from the darkness of the world into the light of Jesus’ love. He welcomes us in, and he doesn’t allow any room for sympathy for the devil’s unhappiness.
A promise to the devil can be laughed off when we have Jesus standing at our side. A promise from the devil is worthless, and should be laughed off even faster.
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