Satan manipulated Eve to eat the fruit and then accused her of eating it. He goes before God daily accusing the brethren of what he entices them to do.
Have you ever had a friend encourage you to do something you knew was wrong but doing that thing would relieve the pain momentarily, so you did what you were encouraged to do that appealed to our emotions, but dishonored God?
Then once you did the thing your friend encouraged you to do and felt intense guilt over it, you confessed it to God and were cleansed, but the friend held it over your head for the rest of your life as though you never repented?
This is how the devil works all the time not just in the big stuff but in the smaller things that are not devastating but dishonor God. The devil loves to cause guilt and shame in those who have trusted Christ so he creates unnecessary drama around things that happened years ago and are no longer happening.
The devil works in the hearts of jealous angry people to create drama, guilt and shame over something that is not worthy of those feelings.
Have you been judged for the food you eat, the innocent and lovely places you have gone and the kind friends you have? Satan is able to take an innocent matter and make it look foolish when what you did was a good and kind thing. He attempts to generate fights and arguments everywhere he goes through jealousy and envy.
Jealousy is when we want what others have and envy is when we don't want them to have it. These emotions produce chaos and frustration in relationships destroying those relationships, the devil loves when a relationship blows up over nothing important.
If we do not give in to the devil and say no while putting up boundaries we are treated disrespectfully for having the boundaries and not doing what they want us to do. Our reaction to sin against us is food for the devil's minions. It is best to get to the point where we feel nothing about the attacks and never respond to them.
How is it possible not to respond? It gets easier when we know we are not the problem, that the person doing these wicked things is responsible for himself, we are not responsible for their bad behavior.
Then, once we realize what we are dealing with, eventually we lose the desire entirely to explain or defend ourselves. Defending ourselves to a narcissist shows that we still care too much about what they think of us, it feeds their pride and brings greater pressure to bear on us.
When we realize that a narcissist is not interested in self-reflection to resolve a matter, but actually enjoys the competition to win over others, we know it is a hopeless endeavor to try with them. This is when we politely excuse ourselves and leave them entirely to God. We are not responsible to remain friends with those who have no interest in saving a relationship.
Proverbs 26:4 says, "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself".
A narcissist is a fool, they have no interest in righteousness. They only care about provoking us to become like them so they can feel justified in their rudeness.
Proverbs 26:4-5
"4 Do not answer a fool according to his foolishness,
Or you will also be like him.
5 Answer a fool as his foolishness deserves,
So that he will not be wise in his own eyes."
Fools think they are smart when they can cause irritation or blow-up in their target. Their goal is just like that of Satan, to cause a good person to fall so they can accuse them of sin.
We know if a narcissist is accusing us of something it is something they are doing but we are not, they expose themselves by their accusations. This is a favored tactic of the devil and is growing exponentially in our day as we approach the end of the church age.
Families are being destroyed because of arrogance and pride that pit family members against one another for no good reason except everyone is competing for superiority over everyone else.
My suggestion is to not play the game. Do not answer a fool when they attempt to cause trouble, do not be intimidated by their accusations or threats and feel free and even blessed to remove them from your lives.
We find nothing in Scripture that tells us never to remove ourselves from a friend or relative, just the opposite. God wants to protect our walk with Him so that our witness for Him is not ruined by nonsense.
Romans 16:17
"17 I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites."
God told us to "keep away from them", we can't do anything about their gossip against us and we should not try we must leave all that mess to God. This means we will also need to keep away from those who align themselves with the gossiping narcissist. Those who listen to the narcissists will never listen to us, but God can expose them in due time while we walk uprightly without the drama they all bring.
2 Corinthians 6:17-18
"17 Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord.
“And do not touch what is unclean;
And I will welcome you.
18 And I will be a father to you,
And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty."
See that!!!!! God will be everything we need even if we think we have no one else. Remember there are many people who are experiencing this lack of love and kindness because the world is raging toward darkness and selfishness abounds everywhere. This only means we are going home soon, so we have great hope in the midst of this chaos and confusion.
The world is confused but we are not, the world loves drama and hate but we possess the love of Christ with great joy even through our tears.
Keep Looking Up, our home going is soon!
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