Over the past few weeks, we have reflected on the devil’s ordinary tactics, the four D’s: deception, division, diversion, and discouragement. Deception makes the path toward evil appear attractive, reasonable, harmless, or necessary. Division separates us from God, divides us within ourselves, and turns us against one another. Diversion distracts us from what God is actually asking of us. This week, we turn to the fourth and final tactic: discouragement.

Over the past few weeks, we have been reflecting on an overlooked aspect of discipleship: Christ gives His followers “power over unclean spirits.” We began by noting that the devil of reality is not always the devil of the movies. He is usually far more subtle. His power is limited because he is a creature, not God’s equal. In the end, much of the power he has over us is the power we surrender to him.

Over the past two weeks, we have reflected on an often-overlooked aspect of discipleship: Christ gives His followers “power over unclean spirits.” We began by noting that the devil of reality is not always the devil of the movies. He is usually far more subtle. Rather than coming at us through strange manifestations or obvious evil, he more often works through resentment, fear, discouragement, mistrust, and confusion. His power is limited because he is a creature, not God’s equal. In the end, much of the power he has over us is the power we surrender to him.