We live in this world, but we don’t fight our battles in the same way the world does. 2 Corinthians 10:3
it’s is well established in scripture that we are, in fact, in a spiritual battle. Once we get past avoidance and denial and decide to step up to the task at hand, it’s probably a good idea to know how our enemy operates, what weapons he likes to use and what kinds of weapons we have at our disposal as well.
So if we don’t fight like the world, how do we do it? We belong to The Kingdom of God. We first have to try to grasp that simple fact. We live here, but our citizenship is in Heaven. We have to learn how things operate in God’s Kingdom which means we have to unlearn a lot of things we have picked up from this foreign culture we live in.
I don’t mean to oversimplify things, but basically the Kingdom of God operates in an opposite manner to this world. So if you can imagine how the world does it, then try to think of the opposite, you will at least be heading in the right direction.
Let’s take a very powerful but often overlooked weapon of God’s kingdom, love. Jesus said, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless those that curse you, do good to those that hate you, and pray for those who speak evil about you, and persecute you;” Matthew 5:44
This challenges me beyond my personal capabilities but that is the point. The world relies on thier own strength in order to win, we have to face our weaknesses and rely on the Holy Spirit to even pick up our weapons, let alone win! When someone hurts and dishonors me, the last thing I want to do is bless them!
In the natural it makes sense to fight fire with fire but in the spirit that will destroy you! If someone acts against us in meaness and arrogance or hate and we return it, we have lost. We have become the persecuter and not just the persecuted. God gets no glory and we have gained nothing.
Posted: November 30, 2014
Living The Call 