Spiritual Warfare

Suffering can cause us to give up and give in, or fight back.  Christ fought back.


Are you ready for the fight? If you were to enter the boxing ring today, would you be primed? Or are your muscles a little flabby, your lungs easily winded and your feet dragging instead of dancing? Besides you don’t want to break your nose.
Competitive boxers prepare through discipline and hard work. They recognize that only through perseverance, mental fortitude, stamina and skill will they beat their opponent. Their vigorous fitness training includes both physical conditioning and mental preparation. It’s not just the boxer who delivers the explosive punches, hooks, and jabs that wins. It’s the boxer, who outfoxes and outmaneuvers his opponent, mentally and physically, packing the powerful punches and persevering until the end that is declared the winner.
Similarly, before engaging in battle no general worth his 5 stars would ever send a soldier into combat without him first completing the rigorous exercises and tedious drills of boot camp. In addition to forming his soldiers, an astute general recognizes that his enemy is real and he prepares a realistic battle plan.
Think spiritual warfare and you might imagine St. Michael, sword drawn, battling it out with Satan and his minions or the movie The Exorcist with the young girl’s head spinning and voice growling. Cynics may scoff, “Spiritual warfare is just a fairy tale—a Biblical myth to entertain little kids or a sensationalized story of demons and deliverance to create a box office blockbuster.”
The devil, however, is real. As St. Peter tells us, “Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour” (1 Peter 5:8).  Yes, that someone is you! Definitely, there are times when an exorcist is necessary, but what about you? Are you ready for the fight? Do you have a realistic battle plan to combat the devil in your life?
Are you ready to combat that menacing little voice that taunts you, “You are stupid!? You are worthless! You are unlovable!—relentlessly seeking to drive you to despair. Or maybe, he fuels your pride and presumption, “You are great! You are magnificent! You don’t need anybody to tell you what to do, certainly not an ‘outdated’ Church!”Or maybe he exploits your weaknesses, “You can have another drink. You will only gamble a little. Who will know you are looking at porn? You won’t get pregnant if you have sex. You can do it your way.”
Whatever your weakness—selfishness, pride, anger, bitterness, hatred, jealousy, greed, gluttony, laziness, vanity, and the list never ends–he foments it until it masters you, instead of you mastering your weakness. Maybe it is not a disordered passion, but a frivolous waste of time or money. The kids are screaming, the house is a mess, but you can’t miss that soap opera! You deserve a little “me” time! Or as our pastor said, “Maybe he can’t get you to do something bad, but he will attempt to get you to do the wrong good thing.”


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