No one made God; God was the first of all things, and God made everything.
A very long while ago God made the angels. How many angels did he make? No one could tell how many. There were more than could be counted. They were all good and happy.
But some of the angels grew bad. They left off loving God, and grew proud, and disobedient.
Would God let them stay in heaven after they were bad? No; he cast them out, and put them in chains and darkness.
One of these bad angels was called Satan. He is the chief, or prince of the bad angels. He is called the devil.
The devil is very wicked, and hates God. He can never go back to heaven again, but he comes here where we live, and he brings the other devils with him.
We cannot see Satan, because he is a spirit, but he is always walking about, and trying to make people naughty.
Satan loves mischief; he does not wish to be good. It pleases Satan to see people in pain and in tears; but it pleases him best to see them naughty, because then he thinks that they will come and live with him in his dark place. He wishes that there should be a great many people in hell, so he tries to make us do wicked things, and keep us from praying to God.
I cannot tell you how very bad Satan is. He is very cruel, for he likes to give pain. He is a liar and teaches people to tell lies. He is proud, and wishes people to mind him more than God. He is envious, and cannot bear to see people happy.
The devil hopes very much that you will come and live with him when you die. He knows that if you are bad like him, you will live with him. So he tries to make you like himself. When you are in a passion, you are like the devil. When you say, “I don’t care,” you are like the devil. When you think yourself good, you are proud like the devil.