It is spirits of devils that try to influence our thinking to lead us away from God and righteousness. It is the Spirit of God that influences our thinking to lead us in the paths of righteousness and a closer walk with God. To try the spirits is simply to look closely at the direction your thoughts are being led. Are the thoughts being presented to your mind tending to soften or remove the enmity between good and evil? Are they making something that is wrong seem not AS wrong as you have been led to believe? Are they a direct challenge to something that is wrong, and has always been considered wrong by the people of God? You can be sure that these thoughts are the voices of spirits of devils. The Spirit of God will never lead your mind to think more favorably, or sympathetically with what is evil in God's sight. This is a basic truth about good and evil. The kinds of thoughts that soften us up toward evil are riddled with lies wrapped in some truth, and that "truth" usually has something to do with what the word "love."
