by Rena Sherwood

Created on: October 22, 2009

The best way to defend your soul from Satan is to not believe in the bugger in the first place. If you don't believe he has power over you then he won't have any kind of power over you. But if you believe Satan has power over you then you won't be disappointed. Temptation does not come from the devil. It comes from your own self.

Acknowledge Your Own Screw Ups

The first step to resisting temptation is to realize that anything you do - good or bad - is your own responsibility. There is no outside force tricking you into doing wrong. You do that well enough on your own. This is not bad news. Because you are the source of all of your screw ups, you are also the source of not screwing up any longer.

One of the biggest screw ups people do is to put the blame for their own actions on others. People just feel better about themselves if they have someone to take the blame for all of the bad things that happen to their lives. According to the Old Testament, our ancestors would choose a scapegoat - which was actually a goat. It was symbolically given the burden of carrying all of the people's sins on its tiny back. This scapegoat was driven into the desert to die a slow, horrible death. But, hey, the people were okay with it.

This is where evil begins. What happened to those goats was far more evil than perhaps most of the sins the goat had to die for. Those goats needlessly suffered because our ancestors hadn't the guts to own up to their mistakes and pay the piper.

Make Restitution

The early Christian church (the REALLY early church) made their members confess their sins to the entire church. St. Patrick changed that tradition and now Catholics only need to confess to a priest. Other denominations confess to God and that's it. But, as the old saying goes, sorry don't feed the bulldog.

If you are really sorry, then not only confess to those you did wrong but take your punishment. Some may argue that if God forgives you than everyone else should to. This is nonsense started by people with something to hide.

For example, let's look at serial killer David Berkowitz ("Son of Sam"). He sadistically murdered nine people and countless dogs for his own amusement. He blamed the devil, Wiccans in New York City, the barking dogs in his apartment building - just about everybody except himself.

Surprise, surprise - while serving a life sentence, he has claimed to become a Christian. He now is a beloved celebrity in certain Christian communities. That doesn't help the families of his victims one jot. If Berkowitz was really sorry, he'd shun publicity, refuse any chances for parole and send every sent he made to the families of his victims.

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