War Between Guilt & Grace

When I was a baby believer, after having accepted Jesus in my heart, there would be scriptures that I’d hear or read but I didn’t really understand. As I’ve grown in my walk with Him, I’ve gained a little insight into the meaning of some of these. One of the more troubling scriptures for me was Ephesians 6:12. In the New King James, the bible I began with, it reads, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Wow, that’s pretty deep for a newbie!! Heck, it’s still pretty deep, but I can at least wrap my head around it now, especially when I can read other versions of the same verse in other bibles.

This is my interpretation of Eph. 6:12…We struggle every day with different things; relationships, addictions, finances…those are all flesh and blood struggles, but the bible says our war isn’t against those. It’s against the rulers of the dark world, the host of angels employed by Satan. God and Satan are enemies and they both have an agenda for each of us. Of course God’s agenda for you is positive, meant to promote you, bless you, protect you, and show you grace. Satan’s agenda, on the other hand, is meant to guilt you, demote you, deflate you, until you give up and give in. Let’s say your earthly struggle is with a relationship. Satan doesn’t just come in one fell swoop and knock you down; no, he will whisper to you in slow motion that the relationship is not worth saving, you’re not worth their time, you’re a loser not worthy of a healthy relationship, etc. Or maybe you have an addiction; he’ll taunt you with your “drug” of choice and tell you that you aren’t strong enough to give it up. And make no mistake, his bag of tricks is unending, he will never quit trying to steal you back from God; and if you’re not strong in your faith, these nudges over time begin to take root and destroy you from within, until you are convinced of his lies. So according to Eph. 6:12, our real struggle is who we choose to listen to, who we choose to follow. The war is between guilt and grace…which side of the battle line are you going to choose?