It’s impossible to hope that both Harry Potter and Lord Voldemort win. You can’t cheer for both the Boston Red Sox and the New York Yankees. You can’t dress up like a Sith and a Jedi at the same time.
When it comes to rivalries, you have to pick which side you’re on. It’s the same with your life and faith. “Can right and wrong be partners? Can light have anything in common with darkness?” (2 Corinthians 6:14).
Right and wrong—God’s light and Satan’s darkness—are so opposite from each other that they can’t stand to be near one another. Satan will try to trick you into thinking you can serve yourself while still following Jesus. He’ll tempt you to think it’s okay to cheat on your social studies test so you can get a better grade. He’ll make you think you can use your mouth to lie, swear, and hurt people’s reputations during the week and then sing praise to God on Sunday. But you know the truth. You can’t have anything to do with Satan’s darkness because Jesus has made you a child of the light.
Satan even tried to get Jesus to fall for the same lies. Jesus was smart enough to say, “Go away, Satan! Scripture says: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him’” (Matthew 4:10).
When Satan comes tempting, tell him to get away. You only serve your God.
