Tactics of the Enemy

[Grace_and_Glory]

Another tactic of the Enemy, I think, is trying to manipulate our desire to be virtuous by misrepresenting what the virtue we seek is. That way, we are constantly working to attain something that isn’t really good for us. I’ve heard that all the virtues (except love) are means between two extremes. Satan can therefore misdirect us about virtues in two ways (at least in my experience)- (a) make us think that the virtue is closer to our extreme than it really is, so we think we are holier than we really are and grow complacent or (b) make us think that the virtue we seek is on the opposite extreme from where we are, so we grow discouraged.
I’m not great at explaining things, so let me offer examples:
In case (a)–Let’s assume I’m trying to grow in the virtue of humility. The enemy could try to make me believe that humility is merely not bragging about myself or not being arrogant. Because I’m not an obviously proud person, I think that I am truly humble and fail to fight against the inner dispositions of pride in my life.
In case (b)–Let’s keep with the example of humility. In this case, the enemy tries to make me think that humility means hating myself or thinking that there is nothing good in me. First of all, this makes humility seem very unattractive and therefore harder for me to desire. Secondly, even if I still desire to be humble, trying to hate myself is so far away from what I normally am like that even in my most humble moments I would think I was far from true humility because I didn’t hate myself. If I do achieve ‘humility,’ the devil still has a foothold in my life, because my ‘humility’ is really just the opposite vice.

 

[Mot_Juste]

The Hang-Up

This tactic of the enemy is to get the victim so focused on the one big sin or problem in their life that they disregard the other aspects of their spiritual life. Perhaps they are actually unaware of the other serious sins in their life because when they examine their conscience, they can’t get past the one “big one”. Or maybe they know about all of the ways they have failed to live out God’s will, but they feel unworthy to make a start because of the guilt and shame they hold.

–Bill