For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
2 Corinthians 10:3-6 NKJV

We live in this world in our earthly bodies, and we deal with other people who do the same. It makes the most sense to be angry with a person when they do something to cause us problems or to cause problems for our loved ones. Paul is saying that though we live in our earthly bodies, our warfare is spiritual. Paul says something similar in Ephesians 6:12 when he says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Because this is so critical for us as Christians, I would like to spend the next few days talking about these verses. I’d like for us to be aware that we are dealing with spiritual warfare. There’s an old saying which speaks of underestimating our enemy and their weapons that says, “It’s like bringing a knife to a gunfight.”

We are going to face these spiritual battles all our days here on earth. It’s important that we recognize these problems for what they are-spiritual battles.

We must not underestimate our enemy the devil. It’s also important that we gear up in the right protective gear and use the right weapons to fight this battle.

First let’s talk about the enemy we are facing. If the devil isn’t bothering you, that means you are not bothering him. By that I mean when we tend to neglect the Lord and do our own thing the devil is content with the way we live our lives and probably won’t give us too much trouble. But when we serve the Lord and do His will in our lives, this angers the devil. This is why Jesus told us we would have trouble here on earth in John 16:33, but He also told us to be brave because He has conquered the world. Jesus conquered sin and death when he shed His blood on the cross. His blood is the only thing that can save us.

In order to receive salvation and spend eternity in heaven with Him, we must surrender our lives here on earth to Him. We must understand when we surrender our lives to Christ the devil will want us back. We must be prepared for battle and we must understand that this is a part of Christian life. We are to be warriors for Christ and through faith we become warriors and not worriers.

James 2:1-4 says, “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.” In order for us to grow and mature as Christians, we must go through these trials or these spiritual battles. While here on earth, we are all works in progress. We trudge through these battles and it’s these battles that help us grow. We will not reach perfection until we get to heaven, but we must strive for it while we are here on earth. We must be the best we can be.

I want you to understand that for Christians, this earth is a warzone. We will face battles during our time here. But I have good news. God will give us the wisdom, discernment, and strength needed to face our enemies. And best of all, we are guaranteed victory. Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” And verse 37 says, “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

We must always be prepared for battle. We should never underestimate the enemy and should always be equipped with the right weapons.

Have a great day!