Category: christian

What I’m writing from these chapters are not the main points or even original intended meanings, they are just observations and thoughts that come up whilst reading.

The devil wants the things we consume and people we spend our time with to align with his worldview.

We often don’t realise how enslaved we are to the ordinary – how quickly food and ordinary life takes our minds away from the spiritual battle for souls.

It is a real thing that simple things in church or life that distract us when we are focusing on God, is actually the devil. We often don’t think about it like that or even care, as we are so used to living distracted lives, but it is so inefficient for the Kingdom if we don’t practice full devotion to God without so much stimulation the whole time. God needs our minds and hearts to be silent and for us to set our minds on Him.

That is what Colossians 3:2 speaks about: Set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.” The devil wins when we are focused on temporary earthly concerns rather than heavenly, eternal values.

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.“

The error I often see around me today, or the one I myself fall into most, I believe, is more to the materialist side rather than the magician. Both of these errors are pleasing to the devil – when people become obsessed with him, it distracts them from God and what they are supposed to do with their lives, and when people live as if the devil does not exist, they do not attempt to resist him in any way and he can do whatever he pleases.

I think that is why a book like this is so good to read. We often live in such ignorance to the schemes of the devil, and we do not lean into those things that defeats him in our daily lives enough. The way we understand things determine how we deal with things in life, so if we have a wrong understanding of the devil, we will deal with him wrongly.

The first thing the Screwtape Letters lets us know about the devil is that he is a liar and that he hates to be mocked. I cannot wait to read about the strategies and ways that the devil tries to keep us stuck and not living the lives God created us to live.