The Devil to Me

The first thing I think about when I think about the devil is evil. I grew up in a very religious household that always stressed the importance of renouncing the devil. If I ever had a bad dream or felt uncomfortable, my grandma taught me to say, " Satan! I rebuke you in the name of Jesus". In addition, my family comes from Haiti and has strong roots with voodoo. My grandma swears that she has seen the devil in people's eyes. If me or my brother were ever acting up as children, my grandmother and mother would make us get on ours and she would pray the devil out of us. Personally, I don't think much of the devil. I used to see the devil as a male figure however, last year I read a book that portrayed the devil as a woman and that lead me to believe that the devil is both. I believe if the devil is real, he would probably look like an average day person, making it easier him to tempt you into doing evil things. I've always struggled with the reality of the devil because of my family's almost extremist view of him and of religion. I do believe in free will but I also believe that there are bad spirits that try to test and tempt you in life. I am not sure if I completely believe in something as powerful as the devil is made out to be.