"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
Put on the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood,
but against the rulers, against the authorities,
against the cosmic powers over this present darkness,
against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
Therefore take up the whole armor of God,
that you may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand firm.
Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth,
and having put on the breastplate of righteousness,
and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace.
In all circumstances take up the shield of faith,
with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one;
and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit,
with all prayer and supplication.
To that end keep alert with all perseverance,
making supplication for all the saints, and also for me,
that words may be given to me in opening my mouth
boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel,
for which I am an ambassador in chains,
that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak."
Ephesians 6:10-20
So often as Christians, I've noticed that we pray for Spiritual warfare to go away. But we shouldn't be praying for it to go away! As a professor of mine said, if there is no battle to be fought the Devil wouldn't be fighting. Spiritual warfare is good, painful but good. Spiritual warfare means you're doing something right, it means that there is a battle worth fighting for! Battles are not without their bloodshed and wounds. Rather, we should be praying and seeking to have ourselves constantly ready for battle, to be ready at a moments notice. We should be able to prepare for battle faster then the acclaimed minute-men of the revolutionary war. Why? Because we never know when we're going to be called into fight. Those who are called to fight must never turn their backs on the enemy, there's a reason that the front receives more armor then the back of the body. Face the enemy head-on with this in mind, "No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13) God will never let a battle come your way that you don't have the ability to win with His help. But being on the offense doesn't mean what the world thinks of when they think of Christians out on the attack. We are given one weapon, the sword of Truth. The sword is to protect others and ourselves from the devil and his schemes, not for attacking other people. But we do need to be constantly on the offense. We are are not called to hide in our Christian bubbles, bringing non-believers into the safety of our bubbles to evangelize them. We are not called to hide behind the walls only defending and losing ground, but rather to be on the outside of the walls on the offense, gaining ground.
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