Screwtape reversed

My dear protégé,

The fact that so many of our young brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus are being tempted successfully in this area is disturbing to me. That they cannot control their anger when something that they desire is removed from their sight or their grasp is something that they should be able to realize is wrong, because Our Heavenly Father does not owe a single thing to anybody or anything, including you and me. If the mortals can be taught this truth that is so often hidden from them by Satan’s emissaries, that they have not done anything to deserve anything from Him, nor can they do anything that would instigate Him to give them anything, many battles we fight today for them would be easier. Unfortunately Satan constantly causes them to forget this reality and convinces them that they have done something to make Him love them. His love is unexplainable; it does not come from anything that anyone can do. He loves them when they fall, when they obey, when they are in His will, and when they are out of it.

To help them to break their habits of anger, gently assist them in thinking of the ultimate gift and sacrifice of His Son. Once they think about that sacrifice, the realization of the shallowness of their anger should hit them. They are controlled by what they want: the superficial desires that constantly pull them away from communion with God. This is the constant war that we are in. The evil one will pull them away, or attempt to, and we pull them back. If, at some point in this tug-of-war, the rope breaks, with which side will our charge join? It is your mission to make sure that the roots and foundation of this young one’s faith are strong enough to weather the fiercest storm of the devil.

One of the things that our enemy, the devil, cannot understand is that Our Father did not choose to deliver these sinners out of anything but love. Satan cannot believe that, since he does not do anything except to take away. The only reason why the Father has not once again wiped the earth almost completely clean like He did in the Great Flood (besides promising never to do so again) is because of His great mercy and everlasting love. Because Satan contains no love, he cannot understand this. If we can show the Christians how much God loves them by pointing out various ways in which He does so, it will be easier to encourage them not to blow up whenever they can’t get their way.

Another thing that we must “push” them not to do is to hate. Hate is one of the strongest things that we meet, and it can greatly hinder any advancement in maturity in our young brothers and sisters. Hate towards one person or object or idea can easily lead to anger in another area. However, hate is also one of the hardest to conquer, once it has been begun. A practical step to retake this battleground would be to have them read the account in the Bible of Jesus’ teaching on hate. Jesus teaches that it is not “okay” to hate someone, even if he have done wrong against you. “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?” Jesus’ law is a new law. It teaches a totally different ideology than that of the world. Since Jesus teaches us to love even those that hurt us, we are instructed to love everybody. It is easy to love someone who loves you, but very hard to show love towards someone who hates you or tries to make things hard for you. For humans this is even harder, because they cannot see things the way that we can. Satan tries to convince them that they hate someone or something, and if he succeeds, then the feelings that are instigated can be disastrous. Their feelings towards other people can begin to grow strained. They examine everybody they know to see if they match up with the person that they have decided they hate. Under Jesus’ teaching, they cannot actually hate any person in the world and still please God. This means that they could not hate Saddam Hussein, who killed and persecuted millions of people. However, because of the mercy of God, Christians are forgiven of their sins, no matter how many. That is the key point that we must drive home to them. We must not let them be discouraged with their failing in sin; Jesus came to remedy that. Jesus’ love is large enough to cover and wipe out any sin, and any number of them.

Try to help them to remember these truths.

Keep on in the fight,