The Lesson of Little Red Riding Hood

A girl, a wolf and a granny—these are the main characters in the famous story. What lessons can God’s people learn from the fable of Little Red Riding Hood?  

There are many versions of the story of Little Red Riding Hood. Some of the versions, such as the one told by the Brothers Grimm, are humorous tales of how Red and Granny defeated the Big Bad Wolf. Others are horrible accounts of the wolf winning. There’s even a cartoon version where Red and the wolf were merely the pawns of an evil bunny.

In most of these versions (although definitely not all of them) there is one common theme: a wolf attacks a young woman through deception.

There is actually a lesson in that theme for God’s people today.

Wolves attacking the Church

The image of a wolf attacking people is not unique to the tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The Bible records many warnings about “wolves” attacking the true Church. In His ministry, Christ likened those who attacked His people to wolves. There are two particular “wolves” that He warns us about:

• False prophets. While these people appear to be godly—they come in sheep’s clothing—Christ said that inwardly they were “ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15). Continuing Christ’s analogy, Paul stated that such figures would attack the Church and cause division after his death (Acts 20:29). These are people who claim to be leaders and teachers of God—but who don’t teach and live the truth.
• The world. Christ warned His disciples, “Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves” (Luke 10:3). Christ is warning us that misguided people in the world can be as ravenous as the animal that plagued shepherds throughout the centuries. The world under the sway of Satan the devil has plagued the Church throughout its history—sometimes through persecution and other times through its bad influence. We should always remember that Satan is the “god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

These two types (or packs, if you will) of “wolves” have plagued Christ’s followers throughout history.

The deception weapon

In the story, the wolf used deception to destroy Little Red Riding Hood. The wolves that the Church faces use similar methods. Under Satan’s lead, they use the same tactics that he has employed since the Garden of Eden—such as appearing to tell humans the truth (Genesis 3:1-6; 2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Satan’s wolves do more than disguise themselves as Granny. As Paul warned, they often present themselves as “ministers of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:15). Through the use of deception, Satan tries to place false teachers and people who hold wrong doctrines into the Church to deceive those who are striving to remain faithful. Paul referred to these people as “false brethren” (Galatians 2:4).

Deceptions of the wolves

Satan and the world use many deceptions to attack the Church. Sadly, some of these deceptions have met with success and taken some away from the Church. Here are a few of the deceptions the Bible warns us about:

• Wealth. Christ warned of the “deceitfulness of riches” (Matthew 13:22; Mark 4:19). Many people will look at wealth and declare, “Oh, what big rewards you have!” When people trust in their wealth instead of God, they often lose sight of the importance of laying up “treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20).
• The law. One of the most common deceptions by these types of wolves is the claim that the law was done away with. Using selective sections of the apostle Paul’s writings, these wolves deceive people into crying, “Oh, what freedom you have!” These people are led into lawlessness, not realizing that they are abandoning the law of liberty (James 1:25; 2:12).
• No authority. Another deception that wolves use to attack the Church is the belief that members do not need to listen to authority, particularly the authority of the Church. Satan started his war on humankind by creating doubt in God’s credibility (Genesis 3:3-6), and he’s been using the same deception to attack both God and His servants. In order to combat this deception, Paul had to repeatedly affirm his apostleship. Many fall for the deception, crying out, “Oh, what independence you have!” instead of realizing that God has placed authority in the Church and in the world (Ephesians 4:11-13; Romans 13:1-2).

These are just a few of the deceptions that are used by Satan and his wolves. God’s people must learn the lesson of Little Red Riding Hood. Let’s never allow ourselves to fall prey to these deceptions.  

To learn more about Satan’s deceptions, read:

• The Serpent
• Beware of Deception
• Was Christianity Designed to Evolve?