What is a spiritual counterfeit?
A spiritual counterfeit is a copy of what God has ordained for you presented by the enemy.
The enemy loves to deceive us with counterfeits and God allows for those tests in our lives to teach us about discernment.
Counterfeits can come in the form of:
- Counterfeit spouses ⚠️
You meet someone just like you, it seems that you click on so many levels. You fall in love and begin to think you might even marry them. But you continuously neglect the warning signs that the Holy Spirit has been showing you all along, because you idolize the novelty or the security of the relationship over the warning signs. You accept that feeling of knowing something is off and prioritize the idea of being with someone over being alone. You made up your mind that this was going to be your spouse. After marriage, your spouse turns into someone you wish you never knew. The marriage becomes toxic and often ends in divorce.
Sometimes counterfeit spouses even end up killing each other out of hate and spiritual oppression. Be careful who you fall in love with, guard your heart from counterfeit spouses.
- Counterfeit jobs ⚠️
A counterfeit job looks amazing at first. The pay is great, the coworkers appear like one big happy family, but as time goes on, the job often leads you to take unethical decisions or compromise on your faith. You lose yourself in that environment. Maybe your boss becomes toxic or you experience harassment from coworkers. Or maybe you receive a promotion that takes so much time away from your family that you begin to neglect what the Lord has given you to take care of. The job becomes your life, your own idol and you can’t ever imagine resigning from it. It has taken the place of God and family in your life.
- Counterfeit friendships ⚠️
They can start off great, but turn into toxic and abusive friendships.They often have a highly spiritual aspect to them, where both parties or one dream of each other and are deceived into thinking they are connected by a unique friendship from the Lord. The friendship gives you anxiety and one party or both can’t imagine losing the friendship.
The thing about all counterfeits is that they keep you from your GOD ORDAINED PURPOSE. They distract you, and can even lead you to grave sins or eternal hell. Counterfeits were designed by the enemy to STEAL, KILL, AND DESTROY YOU.
The longer you engage with a counterfeit, the longer you are kept from the will of God.
Learn to identify the counterfeits in your life early to step into God’s purpose for your life!
I pray this article served you well.
Meet the author
Johanna – Hebrew for “God is Gracious”
I’m a former New Ager, Yogi & spiritual nomad turned Christian after a moment of illumination in 2017. I created this website to help you differentiate between light & darkness and to answer questions about spiritual topics from a Catholic Christian worldview. ->Find me on IG @myjourneytojesus
Good day Johanna
Hope you are well.
I came across your article while reading something else.
I am in a counterfeit relationship, how do one get out? I’ve been married for 7 years now with a 4 year old daughter and it’s hard. I thought about divorce but he is a narcissist and would just make everything so much worse than what it’s now. I will also be unable to protect my daughter spiritually with visitations.
I don’t know what to pray anymore.
Do you have any advice?