How Then Shall We Fight?

Saturday, September 29th, 2012     by Lori Roeleveld     2 Comments
sword-1078968_640Weapons.
It’s a loaded word.
When used in the context of faith and spirituality, it conjures up images of jihad and crusades.
But that is not what following Jesus is about.
We aren’t called to grab or to gain earthly power. We honestly don’t know how to handle it.
Like Gollum, some of us are enslaved at our first sight of power but even the Frodo’s among us feel the weight and temptation of power when it is ours to carry.
Power and glory forever belong to One – and it ain’t us.
We’re citizens of a new kingdom and authorities there don’t recognize the currency of the old one. Earthly power and control are weapons of this world, ancient coins that are worthless in the Kingdom come.
So, what are the weapons at our disposal? What is the armor we take up in the battle in which we’re engaged? How then shall we fight?
“ For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-4
What are our weapons and what does it look like to wield them? I’m thinking about that and want you to as well.
There are the weapons of God’s word, prayer, truth, obedience to Christ but there are others. Today, I’m thinking about freedom.
Freedom is a powerful weapon and one we frequently leave in the barracks when we head into battle.
We fight as free men and women. Jesus purchased us back from death and offered us the incredibly underutilized gift of freedom.
Therefore, we can fight free from the entanglement of besetting sins. Like snares and chains around the feet of our enemy and around those we fight to rescue, but we don’t need to be encumbered by sin.
We do sin but we have access to the power to break free of its hold on us and move past it, see beyond it, operate outside of it.
This gives us a mobility of spirit the enemy doesn’t have. This freedom is a fighter jet dodging every enemy assault and providing cover for our comrades. It is a quickness to recover and return to battle that is beyond the capability of those still enslaved.
We are free from the fear of death. This is a powerful weapon. Every soldier knows that a fighter with no fear of death is a dangerous opponent. With it, we fight with reckless passion and infiltrate enemy lines, taking on all comers with no regard to their number or size.
We are free from condemnation so when the arrows of accusation fly towards us, we have the shield of faith in the work of Christ to protect our fragile hearts and minds.
But we are not only free FROM but we are also free TO . . .
We’re free to die to ourselves in this life because our lives are safe with Jesus Christ. We don’t need to strive for worldly recognition, identity, validation, or the accumulation of wealth and power.
We are free to travel light through this life, like well-trained commandos able to infiltrate enemy lines.
We are freed to an identity that is beyond this world’s reach – the identity of who we were in the mind of Christ at our original design and who we will be as we enjoy Him forever. This freedom is like an armored tank protecting our true selves so we can focus on those we came to free.
Likewise,  we are also free to see beyond the worldly identity of others – to see them with the eyes of their Creator. So, we are free to risk loving others.
This is a powerful freedom.
We can love beyond borders. We can love beyond barriers. We can love across cultures, generations, and denominations. We can love the least of these and we can love our enemies. We can love without agenda because our needs are met in Christ. We can love without expecting a return on our investment because all things are already ours.
This freedom to love is a sonic grenade delivering confusion and debilitating irritation into the enemy camp. It distracts them long enough that we can reach a lost soul whose shields are set to deflect anger and hatred but have no setting to deflect genuine love.
I could go on singing the praise of this weapon called freedom but I’d rather you joined the discussion.
Let us sing the praises of the freedom we have in Christ together and consider its value in our battle for souls.
Have you considered the weapon of your freedom in Jesus Christ? What are your thoughts about how this freedom defines us as warriors in the spiritual battle raging around us?


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2 Comments

    The Conversation

  1. The BearPair says:
    September 30, 2012 at 3:00 am

    Good stuff Lori! We so often forget that freedom is indeed a weapon. That, bound with prayer, gives us incredible power and authority for walking this journey. Thanks for the reminder!

    Reply
  2. Glenda Parker Fiction Writer says:
    October 1, 2012 at 6:21 pm

    I loved your post. We are truly in a battle and we need to stand up and fight. You did a great job on freedom as a weapon. God bless you.

    Glenda Parker

    Reply