Is the Devil Real?

Today I checked out Maurice "Mo" Lindsay's blog, created to help “wake you up to your true identity so you can become the best version of yourself possible.” It’s a cool blog, and I encourage you to poke around and maybe even stay a while.

Linsday is a self-professed born-again Christian who’s popular posts include “Your Choices Explain Your Circumstances,” “Why Do We Feed Off Negativity?” and “Is There a Heaven and Hell?”

That last one caught my attention, in particular. I know the answer, but I wanted to see what Linsday thought. After reading his thoughts (and that of one of his commenters) I was reminded of another common question, “Is the devil real?”

Call me wildly ambitious, but I decided to tackle that one today.

And the short answer is yes, yes, and oh my yes.

You say, “Crystal, where’s the proof? How can you know that the devil is real?”

And I say, “I know because God says so, and I trust God to tell the truth.” The devil appears in the bible in Chapter 3 of Genesis, Chapter 1 of Job, and Chapter 4 of Luke, to name a few places.

But if you aren’t a believer, and you aren’t trusting God, why should this mean anything to you?

Well, it might not, actually. But in that case I invite you to ask around. If you don’t believe the devil is real, but you find yourself intrigued with the notion nonetheless, challenge yourself to check it out. Ask a born-again Christian to tell you who ruled his life before he came to Christ. He’ll tell you. Some like Lindsay have real dramatic stories, and they would love to tell you how Christ pulled them out of the enemy’s camp. (My story is less dramatic, but if you ask nicely I’ll share, too.) Or, ask a Christian (especially one who is unashamedly vocal about her love for Christ) to tell you about the one who stays on her behind morning, noon, and night, looking for a way to cause doubt, despair, and a general distrust of God. You’ll begin to hear story after story after story from real people about their real lives, and you’ll begin to see themes and patterns that can’t be coincidental connecting people who don’t even know each other and have never met.

The poet Charles Baudelaire is given credit for saying, “The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.”

Apparently, Baudelaire was a rather dark and sad dude, but I like to think that the reason this quote has persisted since 1864 is that it rings true for so many people. People like me.

Listen, the bible tells us that spiritual things are discerned spiritually—

"But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised." (1 Corinthians 2:14)

and so, I know that I’m not converting anyone today, and that’s not my intent. I just want to give you something to think about, because it’s important. Really important.

So think about it. Is the devil real? And if he is, what does that mean for your life?