The Light Builds. The Darkness Destroys.

There is a false idea of power spreading through the world today.

People think power is being feared.

They think power is demanding respect.

They think power is having the ability to hurt someone.

They think power is being the loudest person in the room, yelling, screaming, threatening, boasting, and making as much noise as possible.

But that is not power.

That is weakness trying to dress itself up as strength.

Real power does not need to announce itself. Real power does not need to scream. Real power does not need to threaten. Real power does not need to demand respect from everyone around it.

Real power builds.

Darkness destroys.

That is one of the clearest ways to tell the difference between light and darkness. The light creates, orders, repairs, grows, protects, and brings life. The darkness tears down, attacks, confuses, uses, abuses, and brings chaos.

A young man may be physically capable of fathering a child, but that ability alone does not make him a man. Manhood is not proven by the ability to create life physically while refusing the responsibility to protect, lead, provide, sacrifice, and raise that life properly.

The same is true with violence.

The ability to hurt someone does not make a person powerful. A small child can be violent. The weakest person in the room can pick up a weapon. The smallest woman can pull a trigger. Destruction is easy. Chaos is easy. Breaking something takes far less strength than building something.

Anyone can destroy.

Not everyone can build.

That is why so many insecure people make the most noise. They demand respect because they do not command it through character. They boast about achievements, real or imagined, because they are trying to convince themselves and others of something they do not actually possess. They threaten, posture, and reach for force because deep down, they know they lack true power.

True power is self-control.

True power is discipline.

True power is responsibility.

True power is the ability to be insulted and not become possessed by anger.

True power is the ability to walk away when your pride wants to fight.

True power is the ability to tell the truth without hatred and fear.

True power is the ability to lead a family, raise children, build a home, create order, protect the innocent, and stand in truth even when the world mocks you for it.

Darkness cannot do that.

Darkness only knows how to destroy because darkness has no true creative power of its own. Evil does not build anything holy. It corrupts what God creates. It twists what is good. It takes life and turns it toward death. It takes strength and turns it into domination. It takes sexuality and turns it into lust. It takes freedom and turns it into rebellion. It takes compassion and turns it into excuse-making. It takes justice and turns it into revenge.

This is why the fruit matters.

Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits.”

Not by what they claim.

Not by what they post.

Not by how often they say the right words.

Not by how loudly they profess to be good.

You know them by their fruit.

If the fruit of a person’s life is destruction, chaos, violence, manipulation, hatred, excuse-making, abandonment, resentment, and constant blame, then no matter what that person claims, that fruit is not from God.

If their life produces broken homes, fatherless children, hatred, addiction, violence, abortion, assault, theft, bitterness, entitlement, and a constant demand to be provided for while refusing responsibility, then that is not the fruit of the light.

That is the fruit of darkness.

And darkness always wants sympathy without repentance.

It wants compassion without accountability.

It wants freedom without responsibility.

It wants power without discipline.

It wants respect without character.

It wants the benefits of order while rebelling against the very things that create order.

That is not of God.

That is hell operating through the human heart.

Satan does not have to appear with horns and a pitchfork. He appears through thoughts. Through pride. Through resentment. Through victimhood. Through lust. Through rage. Through the belief that the world owes you something. Through the belief that your pain gives you permission to hurt others.

That is how darkness speaks.

It says, “Make them fear you.”

It says, “Demand respect.”

It says, “You are owed this.”

It says, “They disrespected you.”

It says, “Destroy them.”

It says, “Use them.”

It says, “Blame them.”

It says, “You are the victim, so you are justified.”

But the voice of God does not lead a person into chaos.

The light does not lead you to destroy your home.

The light does not lead you to abandon your children.

The light does not lead you to kill the innocent.

The light does not lead you to assault others.

The light does not lead you to demand that others carry the weight of your choices.

The light brings order.

The light brings truth.

The light brings repentance.

The light brings responsibility.

The light brings self-examination.

The light creates men and women who stop blaming the world and begin looking within.

That is true power.

True power is not found in your ability to force others to fear you. True power is found in your ability to be ruled by God instead of being ruled by your emotions.

A man controlled by anger is not powerful.

A woman controlled by bitterness is not powerful.

A person controlled by lust is not powerful.

A culture controlled by resentment is not powerful.

They are slaves.

They are slaves to darkness while calling it freedom.

They are slaves to hell while calling it justice.

They are slaves to Satan while claiming to stand with God.

The tragedy is that many people know this at some level. They know they lack real power. They know they lack peace. They know they lack order. They know their lives are not producing good fruit.

That is why they reach for force.

That is why they make noise.

That is why they threaten.

That is why they demand.

Because true power is out of their reach as long as they remain separated from God.

But it does not have to stay that way.

A person can repent.

A person can become still.

A person can stop identifying with the rage, the pride, the resentment, and the lies moving through their mind.

A person can turn back to the Father.

A person can choose light.

But choosing light means giving up the false power of darkness.

It means giving up the need to be feared.

It means giving up the addiction to outrage.

It means giving up the demand for respect.

It means giving up the belief that your pain gives you the right to destroy.

It means becoming responsible before God.

The light builds.

The darkness destroys.

Look at the fruit.

Look at your life.

Look at your home.

Look at your thoughts.

Look at what you are creating.

If your life is producing chaos, do not call it power.

If your words are producing hatred, do not call it truth.

If your actions are producing destruction, do not call it strength.

Power is not the ability to destroy.

Power is the strength to build.

Power is the courage to repent.

Power is the discipline to restrain yourself.

Power is the humility to obey God.

The world has confused noise for strength, violence for courage, lust for freedom, rebellion for justice, and destruction for power.

But the truth has not changed.

God creates.

The light builds.

Darkness destroys.

And you will know them by their fruit.

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Created by Eric Forth
Faith. Family. Order. Truth

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