This is War!!!! Putting on the Full Armor (Pt.1)

"Finally, be strong in The Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes."
                                                                                                                         Ephesians 6:10-11

As I read that passage this week I was struck by Paul's instruction to the Ephesians. He told them to be strong in the Lord, put on the full armor of God, and take their stand against the devil's schemes. Whether you want to believe it or not, we are in a battle against evil. This is not a war being waged on foreign soil that we watch from afar and can escape by changing the television channel. It is being waged in our hearts, homes, marriages, schools, governments, churches and communities.
It is a war that is inflicting heavy losses and countless casualties primarily because believers are deserting the battle. Why? Because we have failed to teach God's soldiers how to stand against evil without attacking people:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly realms."
                                                                                                            
                                                                                                                               Ephesians 6:12

How do we stand against the wickedness and evil in our world when it is being carried out, embraced, and supported by our friends, families, classmates and co-workers? How do we maintain our integrity and stand firm in our convictions when we are being maligned by a culture that opposes our moral and biblical worldview.

Our biggest struggle in this war against wickedness is being able to separate the evil being done from the person who is subjecting us to it. The battle becomes personal. We attack each other by belittling, humiliating, and demeaning each other even though, and this passage is clear that, our battle is not against flesh and blood!

Satan loves this!

As long as we are attacking each other we are not taking the fight to him. The primary reason we don't take the fight to him is that we have no idea what waging war against evil looks like and consequently have become ill-equipped to fight that way:

"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

Instead of taking a stand against evil; we fight the way the world does. We attack and kill each other rather than taking the fight to Satan's doorstep. We are at war, but before we engage the battle we need to be equipped!