There is a popular saying today, “Not every hill is worth dying on.” The basic gist is that you need to choose your battles, not every argument or disagreement is worth the time or energy you need to put into it. That is a lesson you have to learn early in ministry; otherwise, you will die an early death. There are some spiritual principles too. Paul tells us that we don’t war according to the flesh but in the heavenly realm with divinely powerful weapons.
2 Corinthians 10:3-4
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
Massive Campaign
Paul was fighting a war in Corinth. He had many fronts of resistance, but it was also a massive campaign by Satan to destroy the work of God in that region. People in the church there wanted Paul to come against those who were opposing his leadership, but Paul tells them he fights on a higher plain. He wasn’t going to let his detractors drag him down into the fleshly realm. He was going to come at them with the Word of God and the Holy Spirit.
Many Christians are oblivious to the spiritual battles that wage in their lives daily. What they see as setbacks and frustrations can often be attacks from the enemy of Christ, Satan. If we try to fight those battles with our will power, determination, and a positive attitude, we will often get mowed down. That’s because we are fighting with the wrong weapons. As a believer in Christ, we fight in the heavenly realm through the Spiritual disciplines. Fasting, prayer, scripture are all tools the Spirit has given us to overcome.
Choose Your Battles
If you feel like you are fighting a losing battle, you may have the wrong weapons in your fight. You may be trying to kill your enemies with kindness, which Paul tells you to do in Romans 12, but you don’t realize there is a much bigger battle raging on. Go to prayer and cling to God’s Word. When that doesn’t seem like enough, then spend time in fasting while relying upon your Christian community to pull you through. As you become more adept at fighting this way, you will become more sensitive to the enemies tactics and react more quickly.