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Satan Cares More About Your Motive!

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.
1 Peter 5:8

Hold on… this is not the same old teaching you have heard on this verse. Let me see if I can give you some fresh insight for living in this post. We get it. We have an enemy, watch out for him, be alert, etc. Most of the time teachings focus on external temptations from Satan and how to stand against them. But what if I told you that Satan is more interested in the internal motive behind your decisions? 🤔 Satan takes a huge interest in the internal motive behind your decisions since it can give him a legal right to demonize you or torment you. Let’s look at a quick example of how motive influences a decision and how Satan can use it to inflict you.

Example of Motive Behind Decisions

Brandon and Sarah work together. Brandon decides (motive) to ask Sarah to meet up for lunch. Sarah agrees (motive). Their decision to meet for lunch is based on motive. For example, did Brandon meet Sarah for lunch to discuss the project they are working on together? Motive. 😇 Or does he want to go out to lunch with Sarah because he finds her attractive and hopes to slowly seduce her over time? Motive. 😈

What about Sarah? Did she choose to meet Brandon to brainstorm innovative ideas on the project they are working on together? Motive. 😇 Or is she drawing emotional satisfaction from another man because her husband is not meeting her emotional needs right now? Motive. 😈

It boils down to the motive of the heart for both Brandon and Sarah. Either this is just having lunch to discuss a work project, or they will wind up in an affair which will give Satan a legal right to destroy both of their lives. It is the motive of your decisions that determines if Satan can attack you or if God will protect you. The more biblically aligned decisions that we make in life, the more spiritual protection and success we will have in our Christian walk.

Christ Taught About the Motive Behind our Actions

Oftentimes, Jesus Christ taught about the importance of our motive behind our actions. For example, the poor widow who gave all she had in life. Notice that Christ was most interested in the intent behind each person’s giving:

Mark 12 (NLT)
41 Jesus sat down near the collection box in the Temple and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Many rich people put in large amounts.
42 Then a poor widow came and dropped in two small coins.
43 Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has given more than all the others who are making contributions.
44 For they gave a tiny part of their surplus, but she, poor as she is, has given everything she had to live on.”

I’m not suggesting that you give all your money away. 🛑 I am looking at the motive behind the decision to give an offering to God. In this example, the rich people’s motive behind their decision to give was greed. Give a little but keep the most for me. The widow’s motive behind her decision was to give all she had, which was humility. Notice Christ was paying close attention to the motive behind the action of giving. Whose life do you think received the favor of God and was spiritually protected?

Think About the Why Behind Your Decisions

When it comes to making Godly decisions behind our actions, we should slow down and think about the “why” behind our decisions. Why are we deciding to do X. We are so busy that we rarely stop to contemplate the intent behind the decisions we make. It is just feel this and do it, want this and do it, need this and do it with little thought behind why we are doing what we are doing. We are going through the motions with little contemplation on “Lord, why am I doing this?” or “Jesus Christ show me your will, is this for me?”

Satan is extremely aware of this weakness in our decision-making process and uses this to his full advantage to inflict us with demons or simply to emotionally torment us. Let me encourage you to slow down. Take some time to understand what the motives are behind your decisions in your own life with family members, money, dating, friends, ministry, marriage, and even work colleagues to mention only a few. Let’s go a little deeper, ready?

The Sinful Nature’s Influence in Our Decisions

The sinful nature loves to push us to make decisions based on its evil nature:

• Selfishness
• Jealousy
• Anger/rage
• Control/Manipulation
• Lustful pleasures

Likewise, the Holy Spirit inspires us to make decisions based on:

• Love
• Kindness
• Peace
• Compassion
• Self-control

If you begin to evaluate the motive behind your decisions in life, you can really find two opposing forces working within you to influence your decisions. The sinful nature and the Holy Spirit. Demons play a huge part in influencing decisions, but I am sitting that aside to focus on the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit. By basing our actions off the sinful nature, we align with the kingdom of darkness and potentially give legal right to Satan to inflict us with demons in our emotions and body. Especially if we continuously practice the sin with minimal or no repentance. However, if we align our decisions with the fruits of the Holy Spirit, we are protected. Let me step through a few real-life examples of decisions people make based on the sinful nature and the Holy Spirit:

• When Kelly called Haley to trash talk Kaitlyn, their mutual friend, what influenced her decision? 😈
• When Mike decided to ask his friend to forgive him, what influenced that decision? 😇
• When Hunter, a professing Christian, chose to stay in his dating relationship with Taylor, and continued to have sex with her outside of marriage, what influenced his decision? 😈
• When Lisa gave her friend $300 to pay for her groceries, what influenced her decision? 😇
• When Jason gets drunk only in the evenings to destress, what influenced his decision? 😈

What’s Driving Your Decisions?

You may have not made decisions like the ones I listed, but there are decisions you make in life that will either protect you spiritually 😇 or open you up to attack from demons. 😈 Let me encourage you my friend, slow down. Take some time to ask yourself “why am I deciding to do x” whatever x may be in your life. Notice if it is your sinful nature driving the decision or if it is the Holy Spirit leading your decision.

Did you catch those two keywords? Driving or leading. If it is your sinful nature driving your decision, resist it and instead, choose a fruit of the spirit to lead your decision like love, forgiveness, self-control, etc. This doesn’t have to be overly complicated. Someone makes you angry, make a choice to not respond using anger, the sinful nature, and respond with kindness, the fruit of the spirit. God will bless you for taking the time to choose His way over your sinful nature. Best yet! you will be spiritually protected from Satan.

The Sinful Nature Vs the Holy Spirit

Let’s look at Galatians 5 just to recap how the sinful nature urges our decisions and how the Holy Spirit leads our decisions:

Galatians 5 (NLT)
16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.
18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,
20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,
21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

When you are faced with a decision, and when you make a choice, think of a light switch… you flip up for the Holy Spirit, and down for the sinful nature. 💡 You have a free will which is a gift from God to you. You can use that free will to choose blessing or death, to spiritually protect yourself or open yourself up for attack from demons. For example, decide to forgive those who hurt you and let go of the resentment and anger – choose forgiveness. Decide to stop being prideful having to be right all the time – choose humility esteeming others better than yourself. Decide to stop manipulating people or situations to get your own way – choose kindness letting others have a say. Decide to stop mouthing off to people in complete irritation – choose peace.

Whatever it is that your sinful nature is driving you to do, decide today to stop and flip your light switch up. Listen friend, flip up! 💡 So, you can experience a better relationship with Jesus Christ, limit demonic attacks on your life, and have peace in your emotions and mind. Oh, and sleep a little better at night. 😊

We are not Perfect

With all of this said, I’m not suggesting we are to be perfect and that we will never sin. We are broken people who sin. When we sin, we ask forgiveness from Christ and move on serving him and do not keep on practising sin. As a Christian, we do not live a lifestyle of sin, or live in sin in certain areas of our lives, and just let our sinful nature rule us. This is how demons enter us even as Christians. We choose to resist the sinful nature’s desires that try to influence our decisions and lean into the Holy Spirit for strength to resist the compulsions of the sinful nature. At times, we will sin, but we do not practice sin with complete disregard for the Lord. Again, if we repeatedly practise sin in any area of our life, this is how demons enter. If we could be perfect and never sin, we would never have needed the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Point of this Post

My point in this post is not to be a perfect Christian, that is impossible, my point is for us all, including myself, to slow down and to think about the motive behind our decisions. To limit Satan’s attack on our lives. To take some time to understand what is guiding our decision. The sinful nature? The Holy Spirit? Like Peter told us, Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. Part of watching out for Satan is being aware of our internal motives behind our decisions and understanding what is guiding our decisions. Satan is aware of our motive behind decisions and if the motive is sinful, Satan can use it to inflict us with demons. 😈

Let’s Contemplate

1. Think of a recent situation with another person that angered you. When you chose spite and anger as an internal motive, and then decided to strike back at the person, describe the impact of your decision on your emotions and thoughts.
2. Think of a situation where you chose to forgive someone who hurt you or offended you. List three benefits you experienced by choosing the fruit of the spirit.
3. When you are struck with a sinful compulsion to do X, and you adopt it as your motive behind your decision, list out four negative consequences that you will experience in your life. How will your decision impact the lives of others?
4. What is one way you could force yourself to slow down to think about the motive behind your decision with people or situations in your life?
5. Pleasure plays a huge part in a sinful decision. Agree or disagree? Describe your reasoning.

Thanks for taking the time to read this post. Write me a comment below and let me know what you think about it? 👍

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