I want to talk to you for a little while about the absolute necessity of the Christ-follower understanding the following two facts. 1) They are immediately plunged into warfare the moment they decide for Jesus, and 2) their effectiveness for the kingdom of God is directly dependent upon their commitment to the fight. You may be struggling to understand one or both of these things, so let’s look at them, one at a time.
The first thing that you need to understand is that you immediately enlisted in the Lord’s army the moment you chose to give Jesus control over your life. That is why we are told in such places as 2 Timothy 2:3 about our entrance into the Lord’s army. Let’s look at that scripture.
2 Timothy 2:3 (KJV)
“[3] Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.”
Notice that the words, ‘if you choose’ are nowhere to be found in this verse. Instead, the words, ‘as a good soldier of Jesus Christ’ are found, and these words state fact, not imply choice. Another place that we are informed of this fact is in Ephesians 6:11. Let’s look at that scripture, as well.
Ephesians 6:11 (KJV)
“[11] Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”
Note that we would not be told to ‘put on the whole armour of God’ here if we weren’t going into battle. Now that we have established the fact that we are soldiers in this fight, I want us to look at one particular strategy that can (and SHOULD) be employed against the devil. The strategy that I am talking about is usually neglected because the devil has convinced people that this is simply ‘self-glorification’ that focuses on the individual rather than on the body of Christ. While this strategy DOES focus on self, it is far from ‘selfish’, as you will see as we progress.
This strategy is simply a method of intelligence gathering, a necessary part of the effective battle plan for defeating the enemy. Here it is. You have to learn everything that you can about yourself in order to be the most effective soldier that you can be. You may be thinking, ‘How is this NOT self-glorification?’ This is why it’s not, but rather, it’s one of the most powerful and effective weapons that we have available to us. You are not focusing on you for any reason except to become a more effective warrior for Christ by learning both your strengths and weaknesses. By doing this, you become a much more effective warrior in the battle.
So, how do we put this strategy into effect on a practical basis? All that is really necessary is a little bit of physical investment (a spiral notebook and a cheap pen) along with a commitment to invest some time into this. Let me explain how to do this.
The first thing that you are going to do is simply pray and ask Jesus to show you the areas of your life that allow compromise of any kind to gain any type of foothold. Sit down with your notebook and write the word ‘weaknesses’ at the top of the list. Below that, write down everything that the Lord Jesus shows you that allows any type of compromise in your life.
Now on the next page, write the word ‘strengths’ at the top of the list, and then write down everything that you can think of that is in any way a ‘strength’ when spiritual warfare is considered. Also, you obviously need to pray and ask Jesus to show you anything that you are missing.
Now, flip back to the ‘weaknesses’ page, and beside each one of these things, write out a strategy to combat it the next time the devil brings that particular thing or strategy against you. Obviously, you need to, not just bathe this thing, but drown it in prayer, both before and during this process of learning yourself. But doing this seemingly selfish thing is probably one of, if not THE most effective strategy that we can employ against the devil, because it immediately robs the enemy of, potentially, multiple strategies all at once.
Below is a statement of fact concerning this issue that I was given by the Lord Jesus that I believe you can use to motivate yourself in this pursuit of excellence in battle. I hope that you have been blessed and encouraged by this article. Remember that I love you guys and I’m praying for you.
‘A warrior who has not mastered control over himself or herself will quickly become useless in the heat of battle, simply because of the weaknesses that you can bet the enemy not only knows, but will exploit at the optimum time for their side!’