Today’s devotional: winning the spiritual war in our minds
One of the paradoxes of Christianity is that, while our faith is centered around sharing Christlike love and peace, our private spiritual lives are vividly likened to a battleground. Warfare and battle are apt metaphors for our constant struggle to resist temptation and remain committed to the principles of the Bible.
What does this “spiritual war” look like in our lives, and how does it manifest? More importantly, how do we make sure we win this war? In a short devotional essay on spiritual war, Al Menconi explains where this spiritual warfare takes place… and lays out a battle plan for victory. Menconi believes that our minds are the ground zero of this spiritual war, and that we’re particularly vulnerable to spiritual attacks that come at us through the entertainment we absorb:
Instead of Satan announcing that he is our enemy and warning us that he wants to undermine our spiritual life, he has convinced us he is our friend and he simply wants to entertain us. And we deserve to be entertained….
I believe that this is a major reason why so many Christians are struggling with their spiritual life. We have allowed our minds to be conformed to the values of this world (Rom. 12:1) without even realizing it. Things that once were considered offensive, now entertain us.
If this is true, shouldnt churches take a stronger role in educating believers on how to fight in this spiritual battle for our minds? Most churches and parents want to avoid the entertainment issue entirely. But we cant. It is all around us! It shapes our world, but it doesnt have to shape us!
Does this ring true to you? What sort of entertainment fills your idle time—and is it entertainment that conforms you to the mind of Christ, or to the values of the world around us? How have you and your family approached the difficult task of discerning between entertainment options?
The so-called spiritual warfare also disarm Christians’ faith thus making them stumble during this very tough sanctification process, in a very subtle and intriguing way. There are many who confesses and professes that they are Christians, some even claim to have been guided by the spirit, some teach but are not behaving the truth they believe they have. These slanderers and blasphemers as I regard them, make it hard for others (whose faith are weak, those who can be consider as babes still) who have the desire to walk the right path to overcome the world. They have been blind guides all these time. Hypocrites! That’s what the subtle warfare to me is.
I made a personal decision not to watch rated R movies. I made that decision because they are filled with scenes of sexuality and foul language. I don’t judge others for what they do in their free time but for me it wasn’t adding up. The type of stuff that I was seeing and hearing from this entertainment option was dwelling on my mind and in my heart and so I decided to give this up. I am now very careful about any movie I watch.
I know I’ve become a victim of bad entertainment, my affinity for cop dramas, lawyer dramas and any what appears to be good versus evil shows entrap me into viewing violence, hear language and observing things I would try to avoid in real life. i rupposely try to avoid any movie or show I know has excessive violence,profanity and sexual content.
I had been praying for my children asking the Lord for discernment on their entertainment when one evening I had a dream. In my dream my entire family was sitting in the living room watching a good christian show when all of a sudden this creepy man with long hair came into our living room. He immediately went over to the tv and turned it to MTV. There were sexual scenes and blaspheming words against the Lord. He went to each of my children and tried to seduce them. He held my one daughter by the head and would not let her look away from the tv. He drug my other daughter off to the kitchen trying to pull her clothes off. My children were screaming for help. I stood up and commanded him to leave our home in Jesus Name!!! As I was waking up, I heard the Lord say…”When you allow your children to watch these programs its like inviting Satan himself into your living room!”
From that moment on, we are extrememly careful what we bring into the home. Thank you Jesus!!