Love In The Battlefield

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.”— ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭16‬:‭13‬-‭14‬‬

Ever read a bible verse and know it so well until that one day when it suddenly takes on a whole different meaning. There are some that are so familiar I don’t even fully think of the meaning. Thus, the reason we are told to meditate on the word of God. A new message, or promise or information jumps out that changes everything or you. Knowing more makes you more aware of what is at your finger tips. The wise words in the Bible are very valuable in our every day life. God speaks to our situation through it as well. I had to read the verse above a lot throughout my life. However going through my healing journey it suddenly translated into a whole new meaning. Notice how Paul instructs the Corinthians first with fighting words. 

Be on your guard. I picture being ready for an attack coming your way. The devil is a lion always ready to pounce. “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Peter 5:8) He wants to take us out of our garden. He can’t get to God so he will go for his children. No matter what we can’t let our guard down. 

Stand firm in the faith. Words and moments will try to derail our faith in God. Our faith is one of the 3 strongest weapons that we have. It’s our link that holds us to our Heavenly Father. We must stand firm in it to make it through any battle. 

Be courageous. As in every battle, a time will come when we will have to face our fear. We will have to stop cowering or running away and face the very thing that wants to keep us stuck or break us down. 

Be strong. Fighting is not for the weak. As we come under attack it takes strength to keep going. We are constantly reminded in the Bible to be strong because sometimes we believe we don’t have what it takes. That’s another lie from the devil. It’s inside of us. We just need to dig deep. 

Finally, Paul says do everything in love. I picture a shield, a sword, pumped up muscles, adrenaline pumping and then we hear the command to do everything in love. Doesn’t seem to make sense. How is there love in the battlefield?

It’s in the reaction to the attack. It’s in the response to the situation. It’s in your heart to begin with so that every choice we make is not taken in anger or revenge or hate. Jesus came down to fight for us in our battle against sin and death. But he did it in love when he died for us. 

Love makes a huge difference when fighting against the enemy in our lives. We must be on our guard and courageous and strong, standing firm in our faith that God will protect us but we must remember to respond in love. We can’t purposely try to annoy or hurt them. We can’t choose the path that causes them pain. We are here first as God’s children understanding that no matter how much hate they may have for us or how much hurt they put on us, we respond with these actions.