Why Is the Devil Effective?

By Engr. Carlos V. Cornejo

Why do the devil’s temptations work so well?  You would think that the devil’s tricks in tempting us are too simple and we are way smarter than to fall for his advertisements.  We know the nature of these temptations and where they lead to.  We know, from repeated   experience, that giving in to sin always produces misery in the end, and that choosing to obey God, will always produce joy.  We know this by faith, by reason and by experience.  So why are we still stupid to fall into sin?  Why is the devil so successful in deceiving us into looking at the fake fat worm on his fishing hook instead of focusing on the hook? (the hook refers to the misery the temptation will bring about after we give in) He must be more clever than we think.

The answer comes as usual from the spiritual master and theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas. St. Thomas says, the devil is effective with his temptations because he does not tempt us with big sins right away.  He begins with lighter sins, so as to lead us to greater ones.  The analogy is that of the “frog in the pot”.  The frog in the pot does not know that it is being boiled to death because the water temperature is increased gradually in small degrees, that it is hardly noticeable to the frog, until it is too late and death is imminent.

The lesson here is not to underestimate committing venial sins or small sins.  Venial sins gradually habituate us to mortal sins or big sins.  One hundred venial sins will never be equal to one mortal sin, but habitual venial sins eventually lead to a mortal sin (examples of mortal sins are adultery, stealing, lying, murder, addictions, etc.).  They are called mortal (or deadly) sins because they mortally kill the spiritual life in our soul.  It is cutting ourselves off from God much like you cut a wire that makes a bulb light up.  We lose our state of sanctifying grace when we commit just one mortal sin.  Our struggle therefore should focus on venial or small sins because if we overcome small sins, temptations to big sins would be easier to handle much like the principle of pre-emptive attack.  The U.S. Armed Forces’ principle of defense through pre-emptive attack is to fight and defeat terrorists in their home country or home base (venial sin) so that they could not mount an attack in the U.S. (mortal sin).

John Mason says, “When compromise is allowed in one area in the spiritual life, it always leaks out and begins to affect other areas.  It also allows lies, deceit, and error to creep in and take over.  I know people who have turned away from the Lord completely.  Their troubles started with small compromises.  They began to give in on little things, which soon became bigger things.  It wasn’t long before compromise had begun to infiltrate their personal life.  Eventually, it overtook and overwhelmed them.”

The second strategy of the devil is to attack at multiple directions all at once.  The devil used this when he tempted our first parents Adam and Eve by initially enticing their minds to consent to the eating of the forbidden fruit.  He then tempted them to vainglory by saying: “Your eyes shall be opened.”  Next, he led the temptation to the extreme height of pride, by saying: “You shall be gods, knowing good and evil.”  The devil used mental doubt, curiosity, greed, vainglory and pride in enticing Adam and Eve with an attack directed on the will, imagination, and the passions all at the same time.  The devil sometimes uses a multipronged attack on us too through our pride (disordered self-love) and love for pleasure.  And we need a multipronged defense by keeping ourselves always busy with work so as not to think of doing bad things, coupled it with prayer and reception of the Sacraments (regular confession and Holy Mass) and avoid circumstances that tempt us to sin such as bad friends, bad places, bad websites, bad movies, etc.

Third, the devil always presents evil as something good, as the saying goes, “The way to hell is paved with good intentions.”  The devil never appears as an ugly fire breathing monster when he tempts us but always in a sheep’s clothing.  Satan has to lie, or has to present evil in some kind of good because only an apparent (fake) good can attract our desires, even when the apparent good is really evil, just as only apparent truth can attract our mind, even when it is really a lie.  The devil helps us rationalize temptations through such sayings as “What you are doing is normal, because everyone is doing it” or “It’s just a small kind of fun anyway and nobody will get to know about it.”  Many have fallen for the devil’s enticing baits because they offer some pleasure but of course we know that it gives us a whole lot of misery afterwards.  We need wisdom to catch these baits by reflecting on the consequences of our actions, and studying God’s teachings in Scripture and other spiritual books.  Wisdom gives us that x-ray vision that makes us see through the foolishness of sin and its regrettable consequences.

Our ultimate defensive weapon is Christ.  Of course, we should use all our powers, of mind, will and imagination, but not to trust in them only, for that is equivalent to trusting ourselves.  Our most powerful weapon against temptation is not our own power, but our faith—not because of the one practicing that faith (us) but because of the goal of that faith (Christ).  The weaker we feel we are, the stronger should be our prayer asking God for assistance because we know we are hopeless by ourselves: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.” (Matthew 6:13)