Some of the best advice I’ve ever received is “Choose which mountain you want to die on.” What it means is that you can fight every fight. Choose your battles wisely. Some battles aren’t worth the air you expend others are worth laying down your life. As Christians, we are often running around fighting battles that aren’t ours to fight. We are fighting with physical means in a war that is meant to be fought in the spiritual realm. Pick your battles.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
“For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments”
Know Your Battlefield
There is a great battle going on in the heavens. The forces of Satan are waging war against the archangel Michael and his army of angels. It is continuously raging, and most of the time we are unaware of it. When a challenge comes our way we think it something we have to take on with our mind or our mouth, but we are using the wrong weapons. We will never win the battle fighting in our strength. We need weapons that will tear down strongholds.
Arm Yourself
What are the weapons that are this powerful? Many of them come in the form of spiritual disciplines. Prayer, fasting, faith, and using the Word of God as a sword to fight off the enemy are the weapons we need to be equipped with. If we aren’t trained in these, we will quickly succumb to the enemy. Just as a soldier prepares for the battle, we need to be training ourselves in these disciplines. We only become effective in prayer by doing it… often. We only fight off temptation by fasting and bringing our body into submission. As we become proficient in these, we are then able to enter the battle.
Know Your Energy Source
All of these weapons rely upon the power of God. If you attempt to use them in your strength, you will end up like the seven sons of Sceva (Acts ). Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we can tear down the strongholds that are rendering the church ineffective. We can demolish arguments when the Word is spoken through us. Whether you like it or not you are part of the army of God. If you refuse to train yourself, you will live in constant defeat. Arm yourself for battle by tapping into the weapons God has for you.