Human nature, corruption and appearances

 ​"So if you, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father, who is in heaven, give good things to those who ask Him?"

— Matthew 7:11 (Berean Study Bible)

​What is human nature? Is it good or evil? Is man born with a tendency toward evil already within, or is his evil the result of his environment? Some philosophers argue that man is born good and it is his environment that corrupts him. I beg to differ, because I believe the testimony of Scripture and the evidence of human history: man is evil by nature. Any person is capable of the greatest evil if given the opportunity and accountability is removed. One thing that restrains human evil is the fear of accountability—the fear of being caught, judged, and condemned. The fact that we need security, police, and armies reveals to us the evil nature of humanity.

​Human nature is corrupt. It is selfish and wicked. Thus, it is no surprise that human institutions are also corrupt. Anything run by man is subject to corruption and is, to some degree, corrupt.

​During a match between Egypt and Argentina in the 2026 World Cup, a clear Egyptian goal was disallowed upon review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for a foul adjudged to have been committed deep in the Egyptian half—a foul initially ignored by the referee. Many believed the cancellation of the goal was a sign of clear corruption by FIFA in favor of Argentina. They believe that Argentina, with Messi in the lineup—one of the world's most famous athletes—will bring more revenue for FIFA than Egypt. With Portugal's Ronaldo already eliminated from the tournament, FIFA would lose a lot of money allowing Messi to follow suit so early in the tournament, in the Round of 16. Famous athletes bring attention, and attention equals revenue. Professional sports is more about money than athleticism. FIFA is in business to make money, and the love of money is the root of all evil. While I will not say there was a clear conspiracy to get Argentina through, I will not deny it either, because where man rules, corruption is present.

​Is FIFA a corrupt organization, you ask? I will answer: are human beings running it? If yes, then you better believe it is corrupt. It is ignorance to put trust in human institutions run by flawed, corrupt human beings. A spring can only yield the water from its source; if the source is dirty and corrupt, you can be sure the spring will be, too.

​Since the human being is corrupt by nature, everything he touches becomes corrupt. Are governments corrupt? The answer is yes. You might argue that we have government watchdog agencies looking for corruption to root it out. However, the fact that watchdog agencies exist actually proves my point. There would be no need for a watchdog agency if corruption were not a reality. The follow-up question is: who is in charge of these agencies? Fellow humans who are also susceptible to corruption and can easily be bribed. The human being is selfish and, for the most part, concerned with self-promotion and preservation, doing whatever it takes to reach those ends.

​What about churches and religious institutions? Are they corrupt, too? Since they claim to represent the Divine, who is not corrupt, one would hope not. But the answer is yes. It was church leadership that put Jesus, the Son of God, to death. Why did they do it? They feared His growing reputation and felt the people were abandoning them to follow Christ; they feared that if they did not act, they would lose their power. Here is another associate of corruption: power. Money and power are major factors in further corrupting the human heart, and to acquire money and power are often the major goals of religious institutions. Churches compromise their own teachings to preserve their institutions, their power, and their coffers. How many churches refuse to speak the truth for fear of offending sinners? Offending sinners equals fewer people in the pews, which equals less money in the coffers; less money in the coffers means less money for the leaders. So, yes, corruption is rife in every human institution because humans are evil by nature.

​Because we recognize our own corruption, even while many claim to be "good people," we seek to hide it by putting forth a beautiful appearance. The more corrupt we are, the more we seek to construct a beautiful exterior to deceive others and hide reality. We dress in beautiful garments to hide our inner deformities. Many of us will not allow people to get close to us for fear they will discover our inner evils—not even God. We seek to hide even from God, who sees all things and is the only One who can truly help, and so our corruption remains and metastasizes.

​In like manner, governments and other organizations fear close scrutiny, for they know that if one looks closely enough, the inner corruption will be revealed. Typically, journalists who truly seek to investigate corruption are targeted in return; some are even killed. We will do anything to keep our corruption hidden, all the while promoting beautiful appearances.

​Beautiful government buildings hide inner corruption, fraud, and deceit. Beautiful church buildings cover the lawlessness within. Beautiful garments hide selfishness, envy, hatred, and strife.

​When one understands human nature, one will spare oneself many troubles. You will no longer put your trust in man or human institutions, and when they show their true nature and fail you, despair will not overtake you.

​If your spouse cheats, it will hurt, and you will feel betrayed, but you will understand it is human nature. By the grace of God, you will be more apt to forgive. You will understand that if not for the grace of God, you might have cheated yourself. Even if you have not cheated physically, you are guilty of many wrongs that, if subjected to close scrutiny, would leave you ashamed.

​When a government commits injustice, you will call them out and preach the truth, but at the same time, recognize it is the corruption of the human heart on display. As such, you will not call for armed revolution in the streets or a new election to replace one group of corrupt people with another corrupt batch. Instead, you will preach righteousness, truth, and justice, hoping that at least one individual will repent, give their life to God, and be transformed.

​When you experience "church hurt," you will not be discouraged, because you understand that despite their claims to holiness, many church people are rotten inside with corruption. For many, church is simply a social gathering—a moral boost—and not a place where they seek the Lord for true transformation. As a result, the corruption in the church can be worse because it is hidden under a garment of righteousness. People look good on Sabbath morning, but beneath the beautiful appearances are streams of corruption. Before you condemn them, look at your own hidden, inward corruption. When you experience church hurt and understand human nature, you will pray for your own purification and for God to forgive and help those who hurt you.

​It is ignorance of our own corruption that makes us intolerant of others. FIFA, governments, and churches have beautiful, righteous laws in themselves. It is not the organization per se that is corrupt, but the individuals who make up the organization. The source of human corruption is the human heart, and the human heart is desperately wicked.

​There is only one solution for the corruption you see everywhere: individuals must give their lives to Christ, asking for a heart transformation daily and choosing righteousness, no matter the cost.

​The human heart is corrupt; no amount of beautiful outward garments can hide its corruption for long. Sooner or later, it bursts forth. The only cure is Christ’s garment of righteousness. Seek the Lord and be cleansed from inward corruption.

The idolatry of work

What is work? Why do we work?

​Work is basically anything one engages in to achieve a purpose or result—a task to be done. Work can engage the mind and the body, allowing us to grow.

​We work, first of all, because we have to eat. Work is of Divine origin, not human. The Lord told Adam in Genesis chapter 3, "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat." Labor was given by God to man for his joy and development. Work in the garden was meant to be a pleasant experience, but after sin, it became a painful experience. "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat." The ground was cursed by God; the soil became stubborn, just as man had become, and work became filled with stress and disappointment. The Lord declared that thorns and thistles would grow also, meaning a lot of futility would be involved in seeking our daily bread.

​Work can be hard; however, work is needful and useful. Work keeps us occupied; without work, many of us would fall into idleness, and there is a saying, "Idleness is the devil's playground." Without useful work, our minds would begin to wander into evil territory and all manner of wickedness—weeds of thought would come up, leading to evil behaviors.

​Work is good. Work brings fulfillment, teaches us responsibility, and, if one looks carefully enough, leads to our spiritual development. The more stressful the work, the more we are to depend on God. The more meaningless the work, the more we have to keep our minds on God so that our thoughts do not wander into negative territory.

​While work is needful and useful, it is not to be in the place of God. Work is not what sustains us; it is God who does.

​Many have come to idolize work, making it their highest priority in life. They put work above God, family, friends, and coworkers. They are so focused on getting the work done that they sometimes lose all that is really important in life. Consider the man who works so much that he has no time for his spouse and kids, no time for prayer, and no time for fellowship with other believers. He is always tired and in a bad mood. His mind is consumed by work, and soon the stress begins to impact his spirit. Before he knows it, his wife asks him for a divorce. He is shocked; he finds her ungrateful and he berates her, talking about how much he sacrifices for the family by working so hard and that this is how she has repaid him. But he doesn't understand that he had already divorced his wife mentally and emotionally by making work his first love. He is never with her, and so it is no surprise that his wife feels neglected and abandoned. His children no longer recognize him, for he is a stranger to them emotionally. He is never there, yet he buys expensive gifts, thinking products will make up for love. Time is love, but his time was money. So, he gets the money, but at the price of people. Soon, because of the damage to broken relationships, his health is impacted, his work performance drops, and he is called to the office and may soon lose the job he sacrificed his God, his family, his friends, and his coworkers for. He has made an idol of his work, and like all idols, it robs you of all that is dear.

​Work is not what sustains us; it is God who does. We plant the seed, but it is God who allows the seed to grow. It is He who sends the rain, He who gives you health, and He who gives you the strength to carry out your duties.

​Do not make work your highest priority in life, or work will stress you out so much and rob you of life. Work is a part of life; work is not life itself. Work is important, but it is not the most important thing in life. Do not become a slave to work. Do not seek a certain position because of the pay increase if it causes a mental health decrease. Get the promotion because you are prepared and able to do it while maintaining a work-life balance.

​Never forget that you work to live, not live to work. Put things in their proper order and your life will be more prosperous. The order of life is God, family, people, and then work. Even at your place of employment, never put the work above people; value people above the work. While work is important, it is the people who make it possible. Reject any thought process that seeks to destroy humanity for the sake of production.

​Do not live to work, but work to sustain a living. Do not live above your means, making work your idol; for when work becomes your false god, it will soon enslave you.

​Know the Truth, and you will be free.

Are world cup games rigged ?

 Are World Cup games rigged?

​The first question we must ask is this: Are major sporting events about money or athletics? While FIFA might say their chief aim is to promote global harmony through sports, fair competition, etc., one must look beneath the words to see the true motives.

​Wasn't it FIFA who recently created a global peace award to give to President Trump after he didn't receive the coveted Nobel Peace Prize for claiming to have ended many wars? Can such an organization be considered above reproach?

​Let's go back to our conversation. FIFA is foremost a business. They are in the sports business, and in business, the goal is to sell a product and make money. Nothing is wrong with being in business to make a profit. The problem arises when one seeks to make it appear as if they are not in business.

​The World Cup, like any other major competition—the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc.—is about money: merchandising, ticket sales, television rights, etc. As a business manager, you have to make sure you sell the right products and that you are able to retain customers. And so, you want to make sure the best teams and best players who will attract many people to the games are there. The ways the World Cup groups are set up are for the benefit of the big nations, to greatly reduce the chances of early exits.

​European teams bring massive support and great revenue; as a business manager, you want to make sure more spots are given to European teams. More European teams means more money.

​Now, I’m not saying that every game is rigged, but I believe to a great degree it is controlled—not necessarily like the scripted games of World Wrestling Entertainment, but we are to remember that sports itself is entertainment. And so, there is a degree of control there, unbeknownst to the spectator.

​Can you imagine if all the big European teams were knocked out and some African team and a South American team that is not Brazil or Argentina were to make it to the final? Viewership may be impacted, and so decisions might be made in games to prevent that. I saw the highlights of a game between Ghana and England where an English player clearly tackled a Ghanaian player in the box and made no contact with the ball at all. It was a clear penalty; the game was drawn at the time and a goal could have put England in serious trouble. The referee didn't make the call, and VAR (Video Assistant Referee) didn't even bother to take a look at it.

​At the same time, there was a game between Senegal and Belgium. The game was 2-2 and the penalty shootout was looming. A coming-together of a Belgian attacker with a Senegalese player was waived off by the match referee, but VAR called him to review the play. The referee took a while before he decided to give Belgium a penalty—a penalty at the end of extra time, just before the penalty shootout. Belgium scored; Belgium won.

​Do you think they would have made that call in favor of Senegal? Probably not. Why? Senegal does not offer the same huge market as Belgium. Plus, recently, two big European teams were knocked out of the tournament—Germany and the Netherlands. To lose Belgium could have been something very bad in a business sense. Can you imagine all those fans going back to their country so early? Restaurants, hotels, etc., are all impacted. How many fans from Senegal traveled to the States? How many fans from Cape Verde made it here? So, allowing such small teams to go further at the expense of big teams doesn't make business sense at all.

​Protecting the big teams and the home teams becomes a business decision. In some games, you would even see teams that are in a losing position playing as if they are winning, with no urgency, etc., which brings suspicion as to match-rigging.

​The bottom line is this: the world is corrupt, many human institutions are corrupt, and FIFA itself recently had a corruption scandal. Sports at the professional level is probably much more a business than it is athletic; it is much more about money than fair competition, and the Bible says the love of money is the root of all evil. When money is the main goal, you can be sure that corruption will be there. It may be hard to spot at first, but if you pay close attention, you can see the hints of it.

​Professional sports is for the entertainment of the masses, to give them a storyline, to make them worship a hero. And like all forms of entertainment, some form of scripting exists. Do not put your heart in these things, for they are not as fair or free as you may believe.

Your choices matter

 Your Choices Matter

​Sometimes it is easy to think, "My choices don't matter," or "The things I do don't matter. My life is just my own and it has no great impact on the world." We may even look at people like the pastor, the community leader, your boss, or even the president and say their choices matter, but mine don't.

​The Fallacy of Singular Leadership

​This is false. The success of anything in life, whether it be the family, the church, the business, or the nation, depends not necessarily on the choice of a single leader, but on the daily choices made by the individual. Let's look at a business, for example. You can have the best CEO, but if some of the low-level employees choose not to show up, it will impact the business.

​You can be the greatest general in the world, but if your frontline soldiers refuse to fight, you have no strength. You can be the best spouse in the world, but if your spouse chooses the path of selfishness, the family will be damaged.

​The Collective Moral Foundation

​Life is never about the big choices, but the daily choices made by the individual. A successful society is dependent on the choices of all of its members. If the members of a society are greedy for money and neglect true self-development, the rot of corruption will soon begin to eat the society from the inside out. If the members of the society start choosing to believe there is no difference between a man and a woman and that homosexuality is okay, confusion will soon take over the whole society.

​Sexual promiscuity erodes trust and breaks people down emotionally, which then leads to greater problems in marriage. Problems in marriage might lead you to get a divorce. Your divorce not only impacts you, your children, and those around you; it impacts society as a whole, for it shifts people's perception of marriage, and as we know, marriage is the foundation of society. For a marriage is akin to a small nation-state. The breakdown of marriage is a small dose of national breakdown. A nation is a marriage of people through a social contract. Your individual choice of how you treat marriage has a national impact. Choose wisely, deal wisely with your spouse. Your success and failure in marriage have a great impact.

​The Interdependence of the Whole

​A machine depends on the sum of its parts. As long as each part is working correctly, then the machine is working correctly; but as soon as a different part, or what appears to be the most insignificant part, starts to malfunction, then the machine will start to breakdown.

​Each member is integral to the success of the whole. An army at war is not solely depending on the general who directs combat, but on the cook who prepares the food, the mechanic who fixes the vehicles, the clerk who processes the material, and the phone operator who passes the message. Each has a crucial part to play in the success or failure of the army. A missed message could define the success or failure of a battle.

​To build a society, one doesn't simply need a great leader, a great cabinet, etc., but the construction worker who will work on infrastructure, the teacher who will raise the future generation, the policeman who keeps the peace in the streets, etc. The choice of each member is crucial to the success or failure of it. A revolution may start with one member of the society, high or low, stating his or her discontent, then that discontent goes from member to member until it becomes a flood that overwhelms the system.

​Empowering the Individual

​The truth is, no one man is truly as powerful as the least member that upholds him. If you want to build a successful family, church, business, or nation, focus on the development of the least individual. Teach them to make healthy choices, wise choices. If the individual is making healthy choices, then the society and the business become healthy.

​Imagine having a business where one of your employees gets involved in a scandal of some sort; his personal choice will impact the function of the business.

​A powerful nation is not powerful because of its army only. It is powerful because of its industry, its educational system, its virtues, and the people's belief in its cause. A powerful country is dependent upon the poor as much as the rich. For it is usually the poor who make up its armies, work in its factories, maintain its infrastructure, etc. While the rich may provide the financial capital, the poor do the labor, and as such, the poor are as important as the rich.

​A church is not successful because it has a brilliant orator as a pastor. The whole contributes to its success: the deacon maintaining cleanliness and order, the usher with the smile welcoming the people, the treasurer who faithfully stewards its money, the youth working the technology, and the member seeking to live an upright life. If the usher had a bad day and was mean to one person, that one act may eventually lead to a damaged reputation and destroy the church. One member living in sin will, by his or her influence, corrupt the whole.

​The act of one soldier can define a battle. A soldier who no longer believes in the cause can open the gate to the enemy, reveal secrets, etc. One traitor in the ranks can destroy the whole. The individual and his daily choices are what contribute to the success or failure of any group or enterprise.

​Conclusion

​Your choices matter. The choices you make on a daily basis are determining whether your family, your job, church, Bible study group, society, or the nation gets stronger or weaker.

​The idea that my choices are unimportant and only the choices of powerful people in powerful positions matter is simply false. As a matter of fact, many times so-called "powerful" people make choices to appeal to the popular will, and what is the popular will but the individual choices of the majority?

​Your choices matter. Every single one. Whether you choose to read the Bible or watch some foolishness, whether you go to school or not, whether you treat someone kindly or not, it all matters. The person you treated kindly may develop a better view of people and repeat the same. The person you mistreated one day may develop an evil outlook on humanity or your people group and spread evil.

​Your choices matter; seek to make wise ones.

Always remember that national sin is the result of accumulated individual sins. When God judges a nation, He is not judging them, He is judging us. Make right choices that please God on daily 

The Stronger Sex: Man or Woman ?

 The Stronger Sex: Man or Woman?

​Who is stronger, man or woman? A lot depends on how we define strength. If we define strength solely by physical power, then men take the crown, for men are stronger than women on average. They possess greater upper-body strength. But what about emotionally, intellectually, or spiritually? That can be very hard to quantify.

​But let's look at another area. Let's look at strength in terms of who has power over whom. Who is able to rule over whom?

​While many men will go around saying they are stronger than women, the reality is much different. Many men are ignorant of the power of women, and in a male-centric world, it blinds them. Men define power in terms of other men. Men are mostly focused on raw power, while women use soft power for the most part.

​Who is more powerful? The man with the muscles, or the woman who walks by—that beautiful woman who makes every man's heart skip a beat? The woman whom everyone wants to hold the door for? The woman who gets hired on the spot because of her good looks, or the woman who was speeding and is let go without a ticket by a mean-looking male police officer?

​Who is more powerful? Bathsheba, whom King David was powerless to resist, risking his household to attain? Who is more powerful? The Taliban, who defeated the mighty USA, or the women who are so dangerous that their faces must be covered lest the men be taken captive by lust? Think of the rich man who goes to a third-world country in search of a beautiful woman; when he finds her, he lavishes his wealth on her and brings her back to the states to make her his wife.

​Is it King Herod on his throne, or Salome in her youth, dancing before the king, enthralling him, and to whom the king promised half of his kingdom? Just a look, a glance, a shake of the hip would have been enough to take away half of the kingdom. Any other man who desired half of King Herod's kingdom would have to assemble an army and fight for it. But the dance of a young woman was more than a match for the king.

​How many men who would not give anyone a dime will spend a fortune on a woman they barely know? Samson betrayed his strength for a woman. Samson, the mighty man who defeated a thousand Philistine warriors, was defeated by a woman. Solomon, the wisest of kings, was taken captive by his wives. The Israelites on the border of Canaan were defeated by Moabite harlots. We read of Caesar—the mighty Caesar—being enthralled by Cleopatra, and Mark Antony, one of Rome's famed generals, taken captive by her gaze. How many husbands live by the "yes, dear" principle for fear of offending their wives? Men will pay and beg to be with a woman, and yet many men claim to be stronger than women.

​Many men's lives are centered around pleasing women and seeking validation from women, all the while claiming to be stronger. Men seek money, fame, and power just so they can attract women, and yet they claim to be stronger.

​The truth is, the object of attraction is stronger than the one who is attracted. Because women are to a great part the attraction of many men, the truth is that women to a great part rule over men. They don't rule over men through physical dominance, but through beauty, the promise of sensual pleasures, and emotional awareness.

​Many men can resist anything but the power of a beautiful woman, and the man who cannot resist the power of a woman is not stronger than her. Toxic masculinity is nothing but men who realize they are weaker than women; unable to resist, they resort to violence—physical, emotional, etc.—to dominate, to assert back their lack of perceived dominance. Violence is usually the tool of the inwardly weak. The desire to control is the expression of the weak.

​Many men are the slaves of women. To a great degree in modern society, or in the past, women have ruled over men. Women have ruled over kings and generals because women ruled over them through their lust. The person who controls the resources that you seek controls you.

​Women, while physically weaker, are powerful creatures. A woman will analyze a man, seek his weakest point, and unless she truly loves him, will, like a mighty general, take control of the whole man. Her softness, tears, and tenderness are not tools of weakness, but power.

​An army is as strong as its weakest point, and a man is as strong as the passion he controls or that controls him. A man who believes he needs a woman to be validated will be a slave to women. A man who believes he needs to seduce and conquer women to feel like a man has already admitted to himself that women are stronger than him. Hence, womanizers are weak men who look at women as a prize to conquer in order to feel manly.

​The only man who is stronger than a woman is the man who rules over himself, over his passion. Any man who loses control over himself and his passions will find himself being ruled by women. A woman is stronger than any man who lacks self-control and self-possession.

​The stronger sex is the man who has self-possession. He is able to rule over himself, and he will rule over his household. A man who has self-possession will be able to properly love the woman in his life, and his love will disarm her of the weapons of her strength and make her a partner instead of a rival.

​"Her desire shall be to her husband, but he shall rule over you." The woman desires to control the man, and she will succeed over the man without self-control. At the fall, Satan reversed the order of creation and has strengthened the woman while progressively weakening the man. The modern man is weak. The spiritual man, the man restored by God, alone can rule over the woman.

The path of a slave

​I was a young man, and as yet, free. The stranger came to me—not as a stranger, but as a familiar friend, speaking a common language. He lured me in, talking of greatness.

​Every man seeks to make something of himself because every man feels an emptiness within; there is a secret fear that unless he does something, he will die in obscurity. So, the familiar voice whispered, "This is the path of greatness. Pursue this path, and you will be great. Women will honor you, and men will praise your name. Your name will be held in remembrance for years to come."

​And so, I began to pursue the path toward greatness—the path of honor, the path of a king—fully intent on succeeding, fully intent on taking my crown.

​Another call came later, as I traveled that road: "Son, do not venture thus, for it is the path of death. It looks appealing, but its end is destruction. It promises honor but hides hatred and the misery that follows. For you see, son, a true king does not seek for himself; he serves out of the abundance of his treasure. He does not rob the weak but protects the most vulnerable. A true king lifts up his community; he does not break them down."

​Furthermore, the voice said, "Come with me, and I will show you the future of those who took that path."

​As we walked through the vision of life, I saw many under heavy loads. I saw many who were broken. I saw many in a state of weakness I had never anticipated—weak, grief-stricken, and like Samson, grinding through a mill, blindly. I saw the conquered controlling the conqueror. I saw some scraping the bottom of the barrel to feed their souls.

​Slavery—slavery is all I saw. Men who were once mighty, full of life, were reduced to shells of people. And the voice said to me, "This is the end result for those who were promised they would be kings. In seeking to ascend through the pulling down of others, it is their own souls that have been pulled down. They have lost all self-possession and have become the slaves of others. Sorrow fills their lives as they look back at the mistakes of the past."

​"Do not go this way, my son; do not open the door that will rob you of self-possession. True greatness is not achieved by seeking honor in the ruin of others, or by seeking validation from others."

​"True greatness is found in seeking the honor of God and living a life of humility."

​Many warriors are promised the spoils of war, promised greatness and honor, only to fall on the first day of battle or be taken captive, becoming the spoils of war themselves. They never thought they would be captured, yet they find themselves in prison.

​This is the end of the path promised by that familiar voice you heard in your youth. He promises you a grand voyage on a grand ship, but unbeknownst to you, it is a slave ship disguised as a cruise ship. He promises you the spoils of war and the glory of victory, but you are the spoil of war, and the glory will be his.

​Flee from this path, son, and do not become a slave of his.

​And so, by His strength, I escaped. I am no longer a slave—no longer a slave to that familiar voice, the voice of Satan, the enslaver of mankind.

In the name of freedom

Man was created by God, and God made him free. He possessed self-control and authority over all his powers; God alone ruled over him, and he was a king in Eden.

​But then came Satan, disguised as a snake. There it is—that word, "disguised." Satan disguised himself as someone familiar, as someone harmless, and he engaged in conversation with the woman, for Eve was free. I define freedom here as the ability to act according to one's own will rather than being coerced; it is the state of having no internal struggles to do what you know to be right. The woman was free, and doing good was her habit. But then came the enemy, disguised as a friend.

​He asked her, "Did God really say you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?" The woman corrected him, saying, "Of every tree in the garden we can freely eat, except the tree in the midst of the garden." She essentially told him that they were at liberty to eat everything save for one prohibition. But the devil, still in the guise of a snake, told the woman that God’s prohibition was actually an act of oppression. He claimed that if she were to violate it, she would experience true freedom, for she would be as God, knowing good and evil.

​The woman trusted the serpent. She believed he was a friend who had her best interests at heart, unaware that he was an enemy bent on her harm—bent on her subjugation.

​For you see, the most efficient way for an evil being to entrap someone is through the promise of liberty, achieved by shifting that person's perspective. Someone who is in bondage but recognizes their master is evil is closer to freedom than the gullible person who believes they are "free" but does not recognize the snares laid for them.

​Satan promotes "liberty," but his real goal is absolute servitude. The man and woman had self-possession prior to their encounter with Satan, but afterward, that self-possession began to slowly erode within the human race. Satan understood that to truly control a person, you must remove their self-possession. And how do you remove it? By making them focus on earthly things rather than heavenly ones. If freedom comes from God, then by removing a person's focus from Him, they will automatically use something or someone else as a shelter, and that thing—or person—will then be used to control them.

​That is the key to spiritual thralldom: disconnect a person from God, then guide their attention elsewhere, and through control of that distraction, you gain control over them. Satan guided Eve’s attention to the wisdom she thought she could gain. As she grabbed the fruit, he grabbed hold of her; then, he used her to grab hold of Adam, and he held both in captivity.

​Throughout the generations, Satan has continued to tempt the human race to search for meaning in people and things. As we search for meaning in objects that cannot satisfy, our degradation simply increases.

​Satan might say to find "sexual freedom," encouraging you to sleep with whoever you want, but then you catch a disease or find yourself in drama and difficulties that rob you of your peace. Your promised freedom has become a galling yoke of bondage. If children are involved, child support follows; now the courts get involved, and you may lose many things, including your hard-earned wages.

​Or you are promised "coolness" by smoking cigarettes. Over time, you find yourself unable to function without smoking, and you are shackled to the habit. You have lost your self-possession and are dependent on an external vice to get through life.

​Satan's aim is subjugation, but he disguises it under the name of "freedom." It is as if he is packaging his cigarettes in a box labeled "freedom." The label says, "Find freedom from stress—smoke this," or "Find freedom—sleep with this person." But he hides the fact that the promised freedom will lead to captivity.

​Tyrants use a similar process. They offer the people "freedom" while taking away their liberties. Pimps do the same: they offer gullible young women money or love, and then they ensnare them. This world is a vast plantation of servitude, and most of us are in chains to one thing or another. Some are dominated by a spouse, some by materialism, and some by false ideologies or religions. Bondage is widespread; again, it is anything that robs you of your self-possession and puts your joy and peace in the hands of someone or something else.

​Satan promises a man he will be "great" if he pursues many women, but he soon leaves that man enslaved to their jealousy, conflict, and the overwhelming responsibility of providing for them. Most men in the Bible who had multiple wives had a host of problems to contend with. The promise of freedom became lifelong thralldom.

​Governments use the same promise. They are always promising "more freedom" by removing our liberties; for them, the more control they have, the more they claim there is "freedom." No one would willingly give up their rights, but under the guise of freedom, many surrender them readily.

​True freedom is self-possession: having nothing in your inner life that Satan can use to hold you captive. It means having no addiction or weakness that can be used by the enemy to violently pull you to do his will. For this is how temptation feels: a violent pull to do something you know is detrimental to your own well-being. You know that woman is no good, but she looks good, and you are pulled toward her violently despite your reservations. You know that man is no good, but the power of lust pulls you toward him. You have lost your self-possession.

​The truth is, we all have weaknesses. So how do we remain free and avoid being pulled by Satan into cruel bondage? We remain free in only one way: by hiding our weaknesses in Christ. It is only as Christ begins to remove these chains that we will begin to realize how enslaved we have actually been.

​Resist Satan's power, resist his lies, see his disguises, and hide yourself in Jesus; He will set you free indeed.