I once heard a pastor say, “The enemy of your soul hates you.” You probably hear sermons and social media clips about how much God loves you—and rightly so, for He does indeed love you. Yet it is also important to hear about the other side of the coin: the devil hates you.

There are two key reasons why we should be continuously aware that the devil opposes us. First, we are told in Scripture to be vigilant: “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). Unless we are watchful and thinking clearly, we risk allowing the devil to attack us unprepared, making us easy prey.

Second, Scripture urges us to “resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (Jas. 4:7). Unless we are aware that we need to resist the devil, we might misinterpret spiritual opposition or some negative events in our lives as coming from God rather than recognizing them as attacks from the devil. We may also be prone to sin because we do not take seriously that the enemy is trying to destroy our lives.

Now that we understand why awareness of the devil’s hatred is important, let us now look at what the devil resents about us.

The Enemy Hates What We Have

The devil despises what we have been given through the sacrifice and resurrection of Christ. In Christ, God has given us His righteousness: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). In Christ, God has given us His peace: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you” (John 14:27). In Christ, God has given us power, love, and a sound mind: “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). In Christ, God gave Himself for us: “And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

The enemy hates these gifts and that they were given not because of what we have done, but because of what Christ did for us.

The Enemy Hates What We Radiate and Declare

Because of what we have been given in Christ, others benefit through our witness and example. Sometimes this is done directly: Our presence radiates God’s peace. Other times it is indirect: When you tell others about Christ, they receive His righteousness when they accept Him into their lives.

Because God’s Spirit lives in us, when we live by the Spirit, we display the fruits of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self-control” (Gal. 5:22). When people hear the gospel and believe in Christ, the Spirit produces these same fruits in their lives—and the devil hates our role in this. He would much rather see rudeness, unfaithfulness, and impatience in place of Christ’s love and goodness.

As the adage goes, you give what you have. And the devil does not like what we have. Because the “Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you” (Rom. 8:11), our words and example manifest Christ’s work. The enemy opposes this, but he cannot overcome Christ’s victorious work done in us and through us.

The Enemy Hates What We Believe

The devil also despises what we believe. He resents that we believe in God as the Creator of the world, infusing our lives with beauty, meaning, and purpose. He would much rather that we feel continually demoralized. He opposes our confidence in God’s promise: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). He would much rather that we believe we are continually condemned. He hates that we believe in a God that has “borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isa. 53:4). He would much rather that we believe we must carry our griefs and sorrows on our own.

Victory Belongs to Christ

As important as it is to remember that God loves us, it is also important to remember that the devil hates us and is working against us. Ultimately, the devil’s mission is our ruin and destruction—“to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). Yet he will not be able to ruin us, and instead, “Christ who lives in” us (Gal. 2:20) will ruin him even as He has secured our victory.

Remember, you are not fighting alone. The Spirit works in and through you to bless others, and Christ has already triumphed. Stand vigilant, resist the enemy, and rejoice in His victory which He has given us.