When a Christian walks in the footsteps of Satan …

Satan isn’t just a liar, he’s also an accuser of those who follow Christ (Rev. 12:10).

The enemy doesn’t always lie when he makes accusations against the saints; in fact, one of his favorite ploys is to dredge up the truth of past sins perpetrated by believers to stir false guilt and confusion in their minds and hearts.

False guilt, that is, because those sins have been washed away by the blood of Christ, and God no longer has any remembrance of them.

That doesn’t stop the serpent of old from trying to use the past against God’s children. While the devil may be willing to dig up the old man that was buried with Christ, what does it say about those who profess to be Christians who behave the same way toward brothers and sisters in Christ?

Strife between the brethren is too much a reality today, and one ugly behavior that is sometimes observed is when a Christian threatens or attempts to dig up past sins of another with the intent of hurting them with it.

Who does that behavior most resemble, that of Satan, or the love of Christ?

Back in 1887, the coffin of Abraham Lincoln was pried open to determine if it contained his body. What makes that act so remarkable is the fact that Lincoln’s body had rested in that coffin for 22 years. Yet, even more amazing is that 14 years later a rumor again circulated that Lincoln’s coffin was empty. The furor of the gossip so gripped the public that the only way to silence it was to dig up the coffin … again. This was done, and the rumor silenced, when a handful of witnesses viewed the lifeless body of Abraham Lincoln.

Some Christians are like those rumor-mongers and gossips of Lincoln, who like to stir up what is dead and buried about other saints. Thinking of themselves more as “spiritual vigilantes,” their behavior really has a single agenda: to cause hurt in the life of the one they are accusing. Why else would they dig up something already buried by God’s forgiveness? Such behavior speaks more of the character and heart of the person making the accusation than the one being accused.

My fellow Christians, the forgiven past of your brothers and sisters in Christ is not your playground; it’s not a place for you to find something with which to purposely hurt a fellow believer. If you’re behaving this way, or thinking this way, stop and confess such evil intent, and repent. God will forgive your evil intentions and bury them in your past!

Scotty