Do you know how powerful you really are as a man? You may sometimes feel
weak in the face of life’s demands and pressures, but God has created
you in His image, placing the powerful heart of warrior within you.
You’ve been made to fight for what’s right.
It’s only when you
take on the battles that God wants you to fight – about issues that have
eternal value – that you can truly come alive as a man.
Here’s how you can fight and win the battles that matter most:
Join the spiritual war around you.
A
war between the good and evil sides of the spiritual realm is taking
place around you constantly. If you don’t actively engage in spiritual
battles, you’ll be especially vulnerable to evil attacks that can harm
you and negatively impact every part of your life. Don’t settle for
sitting on the sidelines of fights when God wants you to be on the front
lines, helping to overcome evil with good. Rather than focusing on your
weaknesses, focus on God, who stands ready to empower you to be strong
in every battle you face. Pray for the courage and help you need to
fight spiritual battles every day. As you do, expect God to transform
you into a stronger man who becomes more like Jesus Christ every day.
Fight for causes that are greater than yourself.
God
is looking for men who are willing to join His redemptive work in this
fallen world, and God hopes that you’ll be one of them. Look beyond the
immediate concerns of your own life and take advantage of the
opportunities God has given you to fight for causes that have more
far-reaching significance, such as: integrity, courage, justice,
compassion, and spiritual truth.
Put your God-given strengths to use in the world. Don’t
waste the gifts that God has given you to use in serving Him and loving
the people around you. Pray for the wisdom to discern the best specific
ways you can put your gifts into action to make the world a better
place.
Fight against three dangerous attitudes.
Lust
says, “I want it.” Entitlement says, “I deserve it.” Pride says, “I can
handle it.” But these three attitudes are spiritually dangerous, because
they can trick you into trading the power God has given you for
temptations that can lead you to sin and weaken yourself. Fight against
those attitudes by humbly admitting the reality of your human
vulnerabilities and weaknesses and relying on God’s strength in every
situation. Fight lust by wanting God more than anything lesser. Fight
entitlement by keeping in mind that the only thing you truly deserve as a
sinner is death, but God has graciously given you life and blessings
that you don’t deserve because of Jesus’ death on the Cross for your
sins. Fight pride by recognizing that you can’t really handle any
situation without God’s help.
Choose to be led by the Holy Spirit rather than your emotions.
Your
emotions are unreliable because they reflect only a limited perspective
on your life and they’re constantly changing according to your
circumstances. But you can always rely on the Holy Spirit to give you
reliable guidance that reflects God’s complete and unchanging wisdom. So
refuse to base your daily decisions on emotions (such as anger, pride,
anxiety, and sorrow). Instead, ask the Holy Spirit to meet you where you
are and give you the wisdom you need in every situation.
Watch out for small compromises that can lead to big destruction.
Whenever
you face the temptation to make a small moral compromise, remember that
doing so sets you heading in the wrong direction in life, making it
easier to gradually move farther away from God until you find yourself
sinning in bigger ways that can destroy you. So avoid small compromises
as often as you can, and after you make a mistake, correct your course
as soon as possible by confessing your sin, repenting of it, and
receiving God’s forgiveness and help to overcome the sin.
Choose your battles wisely.
Rather
than depleting your energy and time fighting battles that don’t have
eternal value (such as seeing how well you can play a sport or how fast
you can rise up the corporate ladder), focus most of your strength on
leading the people around you into righteousness. Don’t settle for being
strong at what doesn’t last and weak at what does last. Fight for what
matters most.
Put on the full armor of God.
Prepare
yourself well to fight evil with good by putting on: the helmet of
salvation (deriving confidence from the fact that your relationship with
Jesus makes you right with God), the breastplate of righteousness
(relying on the power of Jesus’ righteousness at work within you),
shield of faith(believing what God says about who you are), and the belt
of truth(standing boldly on God’s truth to resist the lies in this
fallen world). Stand on the gospel of peace (relying on God’s redemptive
power working through your life as you serve) and wield the sword of
the Spirit (using the Bible’s truths as weapons to fight for good
purposes by applying them to your life).
Learn from your mistakes and failures.
Don’t
let get stuck in regret, guilt, shame, anger, self-pity, or despair
after you experience failure or make a mistake. Instead, learn from what
you’ve gone through by repenting of your wrong decisions, seeking God’s
guidance for the future, and moving forward while trusting God each
step of the way. Keep in mind that no matter how badly you may have
failed in the past, God still wants to work through your life to
accomplish good purposes in the world.
Surrender your life to God every day.
Make
a daily habit of surrendering your own plans to God, inviting God to
use your life each day to accomplish His plans for you (which are
greater than what you could imagine on your own). As God shows you which
battles He wants you to fight, do so in the confidence that God will
use your life in ways that will powerfully impact the world.
[written by Whitney Hopler]
