War. Warfare. Weapons.
A fact of life for Christians. Why?
Because we have an enemy, according to Jesus. Jesus called him called "the thief." (John 10:10) Elsewhere he is called a great dragon, serpent, scorpion, liar and deceiver. Satan.
However, Jesus also said, "Look, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and on the full force of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you." (Luke 10:19 NET)
The Apostle Paul reminded us,
- "For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds."
- "We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ." (2 Corinthians 10:3-5 NET)
The word "thought" in verse 5 is from the Greek word noema, meaning a mental perception, an evil purpose, that which thinks, the mind, thoughts or purposes. It's translated as mind, device, or thought in the KJV, and as schemes in one verse in the NET, "So that we may not be exploited by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes." (2 Cor. 2:11 NET)
We are told to fight a good fight, a fight of faith (I Timothy 6:12). A good fight is one that you win! Fight is from the Greek word agon (or agonizomai), meaning to contend with adversaries, struggle with difficulties and dangers, endeavour with strenuous zeal, strive to obtain something -- the "win," the victory.
Of course, warfare requires weapons of some kind. Did you notice what is not included in 2 Corinthians 10? There's no mention of guns, knives, bombs, poison, stoning, beating with clubs or even fists...
What is included are arguments, arrogant obstacles opposed to the knowledge of God, schemes and thoughts. All those, including thoughts, are based on words.
We need Mind Control (our own)
The Apostle Paul calls the word of God the sword of the spirit. A sword is a weapon. "And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God." (Ephesians 6:17 NET)
"For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12 NET)
Can our words also be swords? Swords of our own spirit? I think they can.
Many of us learned this little rhyme when we were kids: "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me."
But that wasn't true, we learned as we grew older. Words used like weapons aimed at another person do hurt; they can cause real damage, real destruction. (See James Chapter 3, admonishing believers not to use words wrongly.)
If we learn how to use our own words as swords of our own spirit, wisely and under the direction of the Holy Spirit, they will be useful weapons in the spiritual warfare going on today.
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