Decent skills come from God. Exceptional skills come from the Devil

When you’re particularly good at something there is the claim, “You have a God-given talent.” When that talent is honed to perfection, it then turns into the accusation, “You sold your soul to the devil!” Athletes, musicians, successful business execs get this smear all the time. You have the classic story of Robert Johnson, legendary blues artist, who is said to have traded his soul at a crossroad to become a great musician. According to this belief, people don’t succeed through hard work or luck, but by a pact with Satan himself.

Screw the thousands of hours of practice and training it takes to be exceptionally good at something. People don’t see the 5000 practice shots or acknowledge the 10,000 hours of practice that goes into achieving success. When someone works hard to hone their skills, it’s a reward and blessing from God.

However, when someone becomes too good or too successful, out comes the accusation of being in league with the devil. We’ve literally got this going on today. When people and teams make it big, society loves them as underdogs, because God is on their side. Win too many games, Super Bowls, or Pennants, and it turns ugly. People turn against them, accusing them of selling their soul and the Devil is at the helm.

It’s not just sports, but big business. Take Bill Gates, for example. When he made his early fortune with Microsoft, he was awesome. People loved him because he was steering an amazing company with amazing ideas. Now that he has so much money and power, he’s labeled as the devil by some, with outlandish conspiracy theories being spread about his role in the Covid pandemic. I’m still trying to understand how Gates would benefit by wiping out Windows customers. From whiz kid to the devil.

The same thing happened to Jeff Bezos. As Amazon grew in popularity and became more convenient, people praised him as a genius. They loved his products and the ease of shopping. However, now that he has amassed great wealth and influence, society has turned on him. He’s now taking over the world. He rules every part of out lives! No one said you had to buy from Amazon.

How many artists, writers, and sculptors got the same label through history?

By their own admission, if you’re good, God had a hand. But, when you become exceptional, the Devil is behind it. Therefore, the Devil has better skills, better music, and better business savvy. I’m not sure how that’s a bad thing. Clearly there is a limit on how good you can be and still be on the right side of God.

These silly pacts with the devil include youth, knowledge, wealth, fame, and power. A quick look says these are all the things politicians are trying to achieve through legislative means. They strip specific people and groups of power, squash their knowledge, and seek fame with their wild media rants. Are they, therefore, in league with the devil? Did they sneak out to the crossroads, make a pact, then come back to DC with their wild ideas of oppression?

The youth part isn’t coming into play since politicians look like they’ve been beaten with the ugly stick.

Instead of believing in this idiotic myth of the devil’s pact, people should recognize the hard work that goes into achieving success. Athletes train. Musicians practice. Writers throw away a million words. There is no need to conjure up stories involving the devil to explain success. And when someone becomes so successful that people turn against them, that’s called jealousy not the Devil.