The challenge of growing up defeating the spiritual enemy

A Christian, in any of his growing seasons, should never doubt that we live under constant bombardment and the permanent effects of spiritual warfare. From Adam to Christ and from Christ to today, this war has claimed more millions of victims than those generated by the world belligerents and the conflagrations that are deteriorating the world these days. It is a dirty war, ruthless, without quarter: it is not won with warlike devices made with human hands, nor with any military expertise. Spiritual warfare is won with invisible weapons that we did not invent, but God.

Who has not seen himself immersed in one of them? Or have we not seen ourselves among the wounded battered on the battlefield? Spiritual warfare is the war of death if we voluntarily decide to run the race of faith with only Sunday espadrilles, well anointed with preaching and tender hallelujahs, but not knowing the weapons we have inherited to combat it. The other option is to fight, to make war on our ignorance, to fill us every day with His knowledge and love and to propose to grow until we climb the palanquin of victory, dressing ourselves in the armor of God. The enemy declares war on us from the moment we stretch our soul and heart so that the Lord of Lords may dwell and rule there.

We know who the devil is, but it would take us an eternity to know how he manages to put together his tricks and bring down the Christian. A matter of trade and time invested in the perverse work. A popular saying says that warned war does not kill soldiers, but in the case of the Christian who underestimates spiritual warfare, even the consequences can be worse. Paul told the brothers in Ephesus: "Because our fight is not against human beings, but against powers, against authorities, against powers that rule this world of darkness, against evil spiritual forces in the heavenly regions" (Eph 6:12) .

Christian maturity is based on constant spiritual growth that is achieved by walking in the Spirit, in the permanent search for wisdom from on high, not in the exhibition of our human abilities to assert ourselves in a world where value is marked by the material. but in the attitude of the heart. However, as we also know the enemy, his tactics and strategies, his way of working in the redeemed mind, his tempting, deceptive and dirty traps, we will be more authentic in our growth and more blessed. One of the most effective ways that the enemy of souls uses to achieve his purposes is to sow in our minds the idea that we do not need to develop spiritually.

Our ignorance in the knowledge of God is the gap that we leave open to the powers of darkness so that uncertainty, insecurity, anxiety, depression, and the feeling that we should not do something extra to be accepted by the Lord. Even knowing the Scriptures; with our flesh still bleeding the cruel and merciless bite of sin, we are capable of embarking on vile adventures, how can we be so light of Spirit by neglecting our spiritual development, as if knowledge fell from heaven or was acquired by osmosis; Or worse, believing they are mature Christians in terms of knowledge, carrying them as an intellectual standard that is useless if we do not put them into practice? And what of the study of the Word, of intimacy with God in prayer?

We can and must learn to grow, even through the attacks of the spiritual enemy. Do you remember Jesus when he was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil? The evil one did not fully believe the Lord's 40 days of fasting and made illusions based on the supposed weaknesses of the human condition of that carpenter from Nazareth who claimed to be the Son of Man. The apostle Peter reminds us: "Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour" (1 Pet. 5: 8).

Against this background we must resolve not to fall, but if we fall because of temptations or because of our weaknesses, find the ways to get up in the Lord and continue growing until we reach the goal. Growth through the stumbling blocks caused by the enemy of souls will allow us to be more prepared every day for the bad day (Eph 6:13). Remember that the enemy - without underestimating him - has his limits.

God bless you!