Am I Slandering Satan?

Q

Often times I realize that Satan has invaded my life and is manipulating me. When I come to this realization, I stop what I’m doing and say: “Satan, get out of my life. Go jump in that lake of fire and don’t come back.” Sometimes I’ll say: “Dear Jesus please help me get Satan out of here.” I don’t consider what I’m saying as slander; do you? By the way, why do we show Satan the respect that we do by capitalizing the name “Satan?”

A

If it’s really Satan afflicting you, then you’re not slandering him. But if you’re just experiencing the consequences of your own choices and blaming him then you are because you’re falsely accusing him. Most people are no where near important enough in the Kingdom to merit Satan’s attention, but some blame him for all the bad things that happen to them so they can avoid accepting responsibility for their own behavior. I call this the “devil made me do it” syndrome. It didn’t work for Eve (Genesis 3:13) but people still try it .

We capitalize the word Satan because that’s the name we’ve given him. The rules of grammar require that names be capitalized.