The Devil Made Me Do It

By Marilyn McGrath

Do you remember comedian Flip Wilson and his character, Geraldine? Geraldine was always getting into trouble, and her excuse for her mishaps was always, “The devil made me do it!” She was very funny, and I always enjoyed watching Flip’s show. But, really, “the devil made me do it” is not a very good excuse. Scripture tells us that the devil can’t make us do anything. All we have to do is tell him to scram and he will run from us. (James 4:7) Simple, right? Then how come Geraldine was always getting into trouble and blaming it on the devil? How come we do not do what we want, but do the very thing we hate? (Romans 7:15)

The devil preys on us when we are weak, lonely & afraid – and when we want more than we have. We are tempted to sin by our own desires. While there is nothing sinful about wanting good health, to have good friends or to love deeply, we get into trouble when we try to force a solution rather than waiting on God’s plan and timing.

So, what makes us push the blame for our misdeeds onto someone else, whether it is the devil or the immigrant family down the street? Is there something inside us that wants to always be good, or right? Are we too ashamed to admit to any ugliness inside us? Or do we want to avoid any responsibility for actions that would be frowned upon by our friends and family? If I am honest, I can claim any one of these excuses at some time or another in my life. And I fully expect that these types of temptations to sin will plague me for the rest of my earthly life. Because this is what the devil does best; he tempts us to do, or desire, or hoard, or harm. One teacher wrote that we have two defenses against temptations – we can remove the temptation, or we can resist it.

I believe that one of God’s greatest gifts to us is our free will: our freedom to choose what we do, what we believe and who we listen to. I further believe that our greatest defense against the devil’s sneaky attacks is to hold strongly to God’s word in scripture, just as Jesus did.

When hungry and tempted to turn stones into bread, Jesus replied, “It is written, one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

When the devil used scripture to frame his temptation and tempted Jesus to require God to save him from falling to his death, Jesus replied, “Again it is written, ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’”

Finally, the devil tempted Jesus with great power if Jesus would worship him, and Jesus said, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.’” (Read the whole story in Matthew 4:1-8).

I John 3:10 – The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.”

Psalm 51:10 – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

Dearest Lord, teach me to accept responsibility for all my own thoughts and actions. Purify my heart. Search me and cleanse me of all evil. Help me always to practice righteousness. Amen