The Bible starts with a story, and has a succession of stories throughout as we learn of the triumphs and suffering of humans.

With its structure of a hero, villain and victim, stories are powerful ways to convey a message. We are taken on the hero’s journey to fight, face the obstacles and ultimate overcome the villain’s wicked ways in order to save the victim.

Like every powerful tool, stories can be used for good or evil. And just like with a good story where the villain manages to con the hero by disguising his or her intentions, you may not know when the deception by story-telling is on. As with any tool, a story-telling might only be suitable in certain instances. For live doesn’t always have a hero, villain and victim.