Spiritual Warfare: Satan's Schemes #9 (bitterness, unforgiveness)
This is the next-to-last of the "Satan's Schemes" posts in the Spiritual Warfare series (and it's a repost from something I wrote elsewhere)... and then I'll move on. John 10:10 : "Jesus said, ‘The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy...'" To steal our peace, joy, and contentment. To kill our hopes, passion, and Christian witness. And to destroy our friendships, family, faith, and futures. Among many other things. And I think one of Satan's biggest tools for this is the snare of unforgiveness and bitterness. If he can get us to focus on - and constantly ruminate on - all our hurts, all the ways we’ve been cheated in life, the ways people let us down or treated us poorly, the ways God let us down, the ways we let ourselves down, all the things that've gone wrong, etc., then we'll grow more and more bitter, discouraged, defeated, and closed-off... and farther and farther from God, His truth, other people, and any hope fo