These devotions are based on CS Lewis’ book The Screwtape Letters. The book is a series of letters written from a senior devil to his junior devil. They provide instruction for the junior devil on how to tempt the human he has been assigned.
“Whenever they are attending to the Enemy Himself we are defeated, but there are ways of preventing them from doing so. The simplest is to turn their gaze from Him towards themselves. Keep them watching their own minds and trying to produce feelings there by the action of their own wills. When they meant to ask Him for charity, let them, instead, stary trying to manufacture charitable feelings for themselves and not notice that this is what they are doing.” (Lewis)
When I was a kid, my friends and I used to make paper guns. We would roll up sheets of paper and tape them together until they took form. We watched YouTube videos that taught us how to build the coolest ones possible, so some of our guns looked pretty legit. However, if I were to pull one of those out when someone was trying to rob my house, it would be terribly ineffective. The reality of its futility would be magnified in the moment when it is put to the test. This is what we look like when we try to manufacture virtues or feelings of intimacy with God. We cannot produce any real virtues.
Western culture has influenced many people to believe that humans are inherently good. That belief leads us to the idea that we can manufacture the virtues God desires us to have. However, this idea is proven to be false. The main lesson we learn from trying to manufacture good virtues on our own is that we are incapable of doing so. However, those virtues must come from somewhere. The Bible teaches us that every good thing comes from God (James 1:17). It is imperative that we recognize our lack of ability to produce goodness on our own. Our recognition of our inability must lead us into dependance on God for the virtues we desire. This changes our worldview by fixing our eyes on God, who not only is inherently good, but also defines what goodness is, rather than allowing us to continue in foolish self-reliance.
“I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”” -Psalm 16:2 ESV
When I was a kid, my friends and I used to make paper guns. We would roll up sheets of paper and tape them together until they took form. We watched YouTube videos that taught us how to build the coolest ones possible, so some of our guns looked pretty legit. However, if I were to pull one of those out when someone was trying to rob my house, it would be terribly ineffective. The reality of its futility would be magnified in the moment when it is put to the test. This is what we look like when we try to manufacture virtues or feelings of intimacy with God. We cannot produce any real virtues.
Western culture has influenced many people to believe that humans are inherently good. That belief leads us to the idea that we can manufacture the virtues God desires us to have. However, this idea is proven to be false. The main lesson we learn from trying to manufacture good virtues on our own is that we are incapable of doing so. However, those virtues must come from somewhere. The Bible teaches us that every good thing comes from God (James 1:17). It is imperative that we recognize our lack of ability to produce goodness on our own. Our recognition of our inability must lead us into dependance on God for the virtues we desire. This changes our worldview by fixing our eyes on God, who not only is inherently good, but also defines what goodness is, rather than allowing us to continue in foolish self-reliance.
“I say to the LORD, “You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you.”” -Psalm 16:2 ESV