2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” This episode talks about how we all have a shadow side. It discusses how our motives for doing things may not be as pure as we think. It also talks about how important it is that we are aware that we have a shadow side. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Our Shadow Side
2 Corinthians 11:14 “And no wonder! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
I heard this verse last night while listening to an audio book on my way home from visiting my parents’ house. The book is titled, “Falling Upward” by Richard Rohr. Richard Rohr talks about how we all have a shadow side. We all have good and bad inside of us and we need to recognize and be aware of both. He said our persona doesn’t chose to see evil in ourselves so it always disguises it as good. We do things in the name of prudence, common sense, justice, or I am doing this for your own good, but it usually manifests, fear, control, or vengeance. Did you know that the name Lucifer literally means light bearer? The evil one always makes the darkness look like light and light like the darkness. I found this chapter to be really interesting. I have heard of the shadow self before but I enjoy hearing about it again as it is a great reminder to me that we need to be aware of all we think, say and do.
What I thought of when I heard this verse is that I have seen a lot of evil things that people have done in the name of good. People treated badly just because of their race, color, nationality, sexual preference or anything else that make people seem different from others. A lot of times the people that are doing the unkind acts are justifying their behaviors. They feel they have a right to do them and they don’t think that they are doing anything wrong. It breaks my heart to think of how many people have been hurt in the name of love or in the name of religion. I feel as though now a days the evil one is excelling at disguising himself as an angel of light. We seem to be doing mean and unkind things and justifying them in one way or another. Whatever we are telling ourselves, we are wrong. God’s number one commandment is to love Him and to love others. If we feel led to act a certain way, or if we feel God is asking us to do something we must stop and ask ourselves if we are living up to these two commandments. If what you want to do contradicts these two commandments, then it is not from God.
One thing that came to mind when I heard this was unforgiveness. The Holy Spirit will sometimes put someone on our mind that we need to forgive. He does this because the Holy Spirit is our guide in life. He knows what is in our hearts and He wants to help us get to heaven. When you feel that prompting, try to listen, it will serve you well. Sometimes we can feel as though someone doesn’t deserve forgiveness. We feel as though we are completely justified in being angry and not forgiving this person. We feel as though our reasons for not forgiving are pure and so it is ok if we don’t forgive. This is the enemy trying to get in our heads. God calls us to forgive. He calls us to forgive a lot. He wants us to forgive again and again. It says in Matthew 18:21-22, "Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.” That is a lot of forgiveness God is expecting of us. Can we do it? Can we do what is asked of us even when we don’t want to?
Richard Rohr talked about how our mind does things in the name of someone’s own good and yet it usually manifests, fear, control or vengeance. I think we can get stuck in this trap a lot. We think we are doing things for our children’s own good, or maybe its our aging spouse or aging parents. We think we know better than them and we feel as though we are only trying to help them. However, our real motivation might be fear that they will get hurt, they will be unhappy, or that we will lose them. Some fear is ok. We probably wouldn’t survive very long is we were 100% fearless. If we did everything we wanted to do without any fear, we would probably live a short life. Fear can save us from making some bad choices. However, it can also hold us and our loved ones back from growing and changing.
When we feel fear we need to ask ourselves where the fear is coming from and what we are afraid of. Is our fear because of clear and present danger, or is it our lack trust that things will be ok? The problem is that our fear is disguised as love or concern for our loved ones. We don’t know we are making our decisions based on fear. I think it is important to examine the reasons we feel the way we do. Ask ourselves why we are making the decisions that we are making. Why are we saying no to our child? Why are we preventing our aging parent from doing this, that or the other thing? Are we truly looking out for their best interests?
We all have a shadow side, as much as we wish we didn’t. If we don’t want to let this shadow side control us we must be aware of it and question the motivation of our actions. If we are doing things that are hurting people or not treating people with respect then we are not acting as our best self. Don’t let the enemy trick you. Don’t let the enemy come into your life disguised as an angel of light. Be aware that the enemy can disguise himself like that and that he may be leading you to make bad choices. Question why you are making the decisions you are making, especially if you are hurting others and saying it is in the name of God, or religion, or whatever else. God wants us to love Him and love others. If your actions do not do those two things, or if they contradict those two things, then they may be the evil one trying to disguise himself as good.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, I ask that this message reach those you intended it for. Lord, we all have a shadow side, help us to see ours. Help us to recognize it and accept it without acting on it. Help us to question our actions Lord and discontinue any actions that are not of you. We love you Lord, you are so amazing. We are so grateful that you gave us the Holy Spirit. Lord, we ask that the Holy Spirit show us when the devil is disguised as an angel of light. We ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!