13For men of this stamp are sham apostles, dishonest workmen, assuming the garb of Apostles of Christ. 14And no wonder. Satan, their master, can disguise himself as an angel of light. 15It is therefore no great thing for his servants also to disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will be in accordance with their actions. (Weymouth New Testament)
http://biblehub.com/wey/2_corinthians/11.htm
When we watch an old cartoon or maybe look at a comic strip, how is Satan displayed? Usually as this comical little guy wearing a red suit, holding a pitchfork and having pointy ears and a tail. Now if Satan came disguised as that no one, I repeat NO ONE, would likely fall for his tricks. Instead he generally comes to us as something or someone that looks good and doesn't hold any appearance of evil. Indeed, the Scripture posted above bears this out. What does this mean for the Christian single?
There are many ways in which Satan might come at a Christian in an effort to entice them but I want to focus on this from an aspect of Christian singles who are seeking God for that someone special in their lives. As someone who's been through a bad marriage which resulted in a divorce, I can tell you first hand what the wrong relationship will do to your walk with Christ. Satan doesn't have just one trick up his sleeve, either.
Too many people have the idea of "missionary dating." Hey, if only I can get him/her to come to church with me, I can change him/her! Yeah, that's all it will take! I had the same idea as a teenager and even dated someone who wasn't a Christian. Now before I go too much further, let me say there's nothing wrong with witnessing to a non-Christian and inviting them to church. Dating them will likely lead to a disaster! A dear friend of mine gave me the illustration once of two people, one standing on the altar and one lying in the floor. The person on the altar is the Christian and the one in the floor the non-Christian. Which is going to be easier, pulling the person up or pulling the Christian down? Same thing will happen if you choose to enter in a relationship with a non-Christian.
Perhaps the most dangerous thing is the person proclaiming themselves a Christian who isn't. This falls into two categories. My pastor is a funeral director and he says that many times when he asks what religion a person was, he gets told "Baptist." That person hasn't darkened a church door in years but they claim themselves of the Christian religion. No pointy fingers here or no judgement passing. That person has to answer to where they stood with God. It's the second one that's much more dangerous to the Christian if they're not careful.
About three years ago, I met a lady online. We had both been a part of Christian Mingle and had a ton of mutual friends in common. We decided to see if there was something "there" between us. She seemed like a dream come true. Church secretary. She helped with the youth in her church and I believe even taught Sunday School some. She explained to me she was waiting for marriage and ANY guy who tried ANYTHING with her was out the door. Yes, sir, sounds great! If it sounds too good to be true.....
She "slipped up" one morning and suggested we should sleep together when I came to visit. When I called her out on it, well, it was a joke. Bad taste but a joke. Okay, we're human and mistakes happen. Other little things came up here and there but always she had an excuse. Hey, I'll admit it, I had been suckered in by all her smooth talk; I wanted it all to be true. Just like a car that we desperately want and we fail to check under the hood to see what problems there might be. When I finally did meet her in person, the "slip ups" weren't slip ups at all. This self-professed Christian lady did not at all portray the persona she had presented.
Be careful in what you'd doing, Christian singles! The devil would love nothing more than to trip us up. Trust me when I say a miserable relationship/marriage WILL hurt your relationship with God!
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