Fight the Good Fight of Faith, English Edition

Lesson : The Equipment We Use • 

How will this happen? Since the enemy’s most common tactic is to get us to believe and act upon lies we hear, our greatest weapon (and our greatest armor against his attack) is to affirm the truth. Every believer must take up God’s armor, keeping on the alert to falsehoods that they encounter, and resisting those lies by reciting and embracing the truth of Christ. What areas in your life today need to be rethought and reconsidered in light of the truth, i.e., what the Scriptures teach about it? What things are incon sistent with the truth in Christ? Reflect on Paul’s threefold strategy of living in the truth: But that is not the way you learned Christ! – assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. This text provides insight into how we can fight the good fight of faith effectively. First, put off the old man (with its lies and deceits); second, be renewed in the spirit of your mind (tell yourself the truth about that area); and third, put on the new man (act consistent with the truth until you form new habits of how to think, talk, and act around that issue). Meditate long on Paul’s instruction to the Ephesians, and apply it daily. What areas have you struggled in “putting off the old man (with its lies and deceits)”? In those areas, what must you “put off”? How will you renew your mind? How must you “put on the new self ”? Ask the Spirit for wisdom and grace, and he will give you insight in your fight for the truth in these areas. ~ Ephesians 4.20-24

God has given me weapons to fight and so I must grow in my ability as a soldier of Christ through the practice of spiritual disciplines in the church, telling myself the truth, and refusing to believe lies.

Affirmation

Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada (1515-1582) was a Spaniard who began serving Christ as a nun at age 20. She was very devout and had a unique ability to write about her spiritual life. Her most famous work on prayer is “Interior Castle” in which she wrote following a deep intimate encounter with God.

Prayer