Manipulating and Controlling "in the name of Jesus"

in #manipulating8 years ago

I have been a serious Christian for 19 years. I have seen a lot of people controlling and manipulating people all under the the guise of trying to help The Holy Spirit do His work. I have seen evangelists "stretch the truth" to cause "guilty sinners" to get saved. These are spirits of Deception and Manipulation. The Lord is well able to reach a person's heart without us feeding demons to make it happen. And the awesomeness of The Lord is so wonderful that demons aren't needed to explain it. I have seen waaaaay too many parents try to control their adult children's lives to try and make the children do "The Lord's will". If you didn't raise your children correctly, trying to redo the job once they are adults, is out of the question. You are most likely going to push your child away from you and possibly The Lord, too. Raising our children to hear The Lord's voice and to have a heart to do His will is the best thing because even when we think they should do something else, they are open to His correction, and will allow His conviction. We raised our children like this, and especially when they became teenagers, when they asked for our permission to do something, or whatever, we were able to say, "What does The Lord want you to do?". Maybe once or twice did we ever not agree with what they said they thought He wanted and those were only minor incidents that we gave them grace in. Now, as older teenagers, we know that our children have a strong moral standard, desire to follow The Lord, and they are pretty much hands off as far as our need to tell them what to do. They still ask our advice but we try to make sure we tell them what The Lord wants us to even if that means asking them, "What do you feel The Lord is telling you?" Ultimately, we as humans need to realize that our children are not our own. They are The Lord's and He truly cares more about them than we do. He knows more about the people we are trying to reach and minister to. We don't have to employ the devil's standard of controlling and manipulating to accomplish The Lord's will. The Lord is way smarter than the devil. We need to use His effective tools of non-witchcraft prayers, etc. to soften hearts. So, let's ask The Lord if there is a spirit of Control and/or Manipulation that we are feeding or entertaining in our lives for selfish reasons or for "The Lord's will". If so, let's repent (turn away from that) and ask forgiveness. Lots of people know when someone is not being straight with them, and they don't usually like it. I know I would rather people tell me that they hate me than act like they love me. The truth may be hard to take sometimes but living in Deception makes us weak. Let's be strong in The Lord. We shall know The Truth and The Truth will make us free!!