The Spirit of Manipulation
One of the biggest threats to a believer in Christ comes, not from an external force, but rather from a person in your life who seeks artificial harmony with the intent to cause confusion. With a person like this, the enemy uses darkness, manipulation, and control to stop you from accomplishing God’s ultimate purpose in your life.
Someone who functions with a spirit of manipulation usually makes a good first impression. They may seem kind, helpful, and well-intentioned. That’s camouflage. Left unchecked, this person brings misdirection, destruction, and evil into your life.
4 Signs You’re Dealing With a Spirit of Manipulation
The spirit of manipulation is power-obsessed, controlling, and totally rejects God’s established order of authority. Someone with this spirit wants you personally, and everyone connected to the good you seek to accomplish, to submit to their will, and not God’s.
- They’re Obsessed With Winning You Over
To get you off track, they need your loyalty. So, winning you over is vital. Someone with this spirit uses manipulation, seduction, persuasion, and guilt to gain your affection and your loyalty. They may do something nice for you, but there are always strings attached.
- They Claim to Have Solutions but Cause Confusion and Havoc
Someone with the spirit of manipulation will present themselves as spiritually superior. They may claim to have a special word from God or insight that is only revealed to them–yet they are always at odds with God’s authority and the leadership He has chosen to advance His work in the earth.
Their words and actions cause confusion and wreak havoc within a faith community. You must remember that confusion is not from the Lord.
For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace…
1 Corinthians 14:33 KJV
- They Are Obsessed With Control
The spirit of manipulation always wants more control in your life and within a community of faith. This person uses spiritual manipulation to gain control and then fear to keep it.
In a faith community, their objective is to win over lots of people, thereby gaining enough control to pursue their own goals. With so much influence, they expect leadership to be afraid to stand up to them. They want the leaders in an organization to think that standing up to them will cause a rift in the culture that is unmendable.
- They Never Repent
Here’s the biggest sign you’re dealing with someone with the spirit of manipulation–they never repent. As long as they continue to operate with a motivation to manipulate others, they’ll never apologize, never admit to being wrong, and never ask for forgiveness.
What to Do When You Encounter the Spirit of Manipulation
Someone with the spirit of manipulation seeks out those who are spiritually naive. It is important to resist this spirit and stand up to it strongly.
- Be spiritually vigilant. Guard your heart against anyone who tries to make you feel that they need you to be a part of their special spiritual agenda that’s contrary to that of God’s divine and ultimate plan.
- Love repentance. As a believer, it is important to understand that no agenda is greater than God’s. So, personally and collectively, believers should always be ready to repent from personal wills and desires and pursue lifestyles that are in obedience and submission to His.
If you recognize that someone with the spirit of manipulation has been using you to disrupt God’s will for your life or His plans through others, repent.
If you know you display any of the characteristics of someone with the spirit of manipulation, repent. Repentance breaks the curse.