"I don't need to take it back," the man said, turning to leave. "The ten years are up. Your hands are yours again."
On the eve of the tenth year, the man returned. He found Elias sitting in the center of his greatest achievement, a marble palace that was freezing despite the summer heat. "Ten years," the man whispered. "You’ve done well." devils_work
The work often starts by exalting the person's talent but ends by destroying their character or relationships. "I don't need to take it back," the
"I don't want your soul, Elias," the man said, his voice smooth as polished marble. "That’s a poet’s fiction. I want your work. I want the next ten years of your hands." He found Elias sitting in the center of
But the devil’s work is never about the building; it is about the builder.
The man smiled, and for the first time, Elias saw the "Devil's Work" for what it truly was. It wasn't the evil he had done; it was the humanity he had traded away for the sake of being "perfect."
One of the most effective tools used is "discouragement," making a person feel their true vocation or worth is a sham.