The Good Fight

When we hear the words "spiritual warfare", we might picture a number of different things. My wife tells me she tends to picture the stereotypical angel on one shoulder and the devil on the other, both offering their suggestions in your ears. I, being a bit weird, begin picturing an unseen world of angels and demons, attacking each other on a war-torn battlefield, red skies and all.

Phrases taken from the Bible such as "fight the good fight of faith" (1 Timothy 6:12), "put on the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11), and "the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh" (2 Corinthians 10:4) indicate that there, indeed, is a war going on. But spiritual warfare is not all about a mystical war that we cannot see with our own eyes, or whether to listen to the good or bad angel on our shoulder. The fight is actually right in front of us. We are in the midst of a raging war, even in the seemingly unimportant things that we do every day.

If I tell you that bears only want to give you a hug, and you believe me, you very well may get hurt when you go up to one and try to give it a squeeze. If I tell you a butterfly has an extremely poisonous and painful bite, and you believe me, you will miss the beauty of them as you run away in fear of them.

Our Enemy constantly uses the strongest weapon he has against us. This pervasive, potentially devastating force is surprisingly not as dramatic as we sometimes think. His weapon of choice is deception. If he can get us to believe even one lie, he has successfully lured us away from reality. This is what happened to Adam and Eve, and it's been happening ever since. Sometimes it feels like everyone and everything is against us. It may feel like the Enemy is everywhere, constantly harassing us, even reading our thoughts and making bad things to happen. However, this is not true at all. Once he's pitched us one of his cunning lies, he can kick back while we do the destructive work ourselves by walking around believing him.

If such ridiculous lies about bears and butterflies can be destructive, put it in perspective and try to picture what widespread damage the following lies can do: "You are a pathetic loser, you will never be good enough, you are fat, you are ugly, no one likes you, you are stupid, God wants you to work harder to please Him, God doesn't care about you, that one thing you keep beating yourself up for is too bad for God or anyone to forgive, and you are just a terrible person". In my experience, lies like this are common. They tend to focus on who God is and who I am.

So how do we fight this "good fight"? Timothy blatantly tells us this good fight involves faith. Faith is the most powerful weapon we have been given by God. What better way to fight lies than with truth? Lies pour into every aspect of our life, affecting our emotions, physical health, and relationships. They fuel issues while attempting to raise a child, confront a person who has wronged us, or work through extremely disappointing circumstances. Trusting Him provides us with what we need to dispel lies, see things clearly, and act on things confidently. The Truth sets us free and allows us to enjoy the things God intends for us to enjoy, including such things as relationships, work, and, yes, butterflies.