The Devil’s Approach

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:” (1 Peter 5:8)

This especially a reason why it is so important to constantly pray for, and impart God into, our children. The young years are some of the most impressionable, and the more awkward or socially uncomfortable they are, the easier it is for the wrong influence (anything that is contradictory to God’s Word) to make them feel accepted.

Teenagers (and many adults also) are typically looking for peer acceptance, love, and affection.

This is different from parental love (though parental guidance is helpful). “Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

But the young also have increased hormonal passions pumping through their veins and are looking for romantic love as well as social acceptance. If they are not already confident, popular, and bold, they are far more susceptible to being pulled in by the temptations of acceptance and passion by more outlier social groups that don’t align with the morality of the faith. And this is where the devil exploits their “weaknesses” of shyness and loneliness.

This is how a lion hunts. It seeks the weakest, least aggressive of the herd for prey. The devil, too, looks for those whose confidence isn’t the highest, nor their moral standards, as they are easiest to manipulate with the offering of acceptance and love, and the promise of giving it all, just as when the devil tempted Jesus on top of the mountain.

Knowing this, we MUST not only be aware of these tactics for ourselves, but also for our youth. Staying prayed up for them, teaching them these principles, and speaking the Word over them constantly is vital in keeping them, and helping them to return when they go prodigal.

Peace and Blessings