A WARNING TO WARRIORS

DAY 29 Winning Edge Devotions

1 CORIN. 2: 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

Every army, in order to prevail on the battlefield, needs a certain number of people capable of courage, initiative or leadership beyond the norm.” Max Hastings, Warriors

We train our football players to be young warriors. Early in their football experience, we do drills where they put on the equipment and physically compete. There is a winner and a loser in almost all the drills. The intensity of the fight can be very dramatic! Over the course of training, these young men learn to fight.

It is the warrior spirit that causes some people to take notice, and often this characteristic has been admired. Many cultures have been established and maintained by prowess on the battlefield.

At the same time, their peers in society have also disliked many warriors. Some people feel uncomfortable around ‘fighters’ because warriors are the type of people not afraid to 'stir the pot' or face awkward circumstances.

I find it interesting to watch different reactions to my football players. Some people are ready to elevate them just because they play football and others are ready to tear them down for the same reason. I constantly advise our players to be careful as to how they walk, knowing that some natural detractors exist. And they sometimes add to the fire of dislike by doing foolish things.

As Christians, we also have natural detractors. The Bible describes them as ‘natural men’ who cannot comprehend the ways of God. We are encouraged in scripture to make every effort to live in peace with all men, but the above passage and many others guarantee that the majority will never accept us. Our relationship with Christ will always cause a separation with the world.

I write this for us to remember to be careful. And we must never water down what we believe in order to be accepted. We live to fight for our faith, but we also do so trying to keep a loving spirit about us as we walk.

The harder we fight for our faith and families, the more we will face misunderstanding and even persecution. If you are a good fighter, be careful, because there are a lot of people who do not like that ‘warrior spirit’. If you are a man's man and have grown up fighting for what you get- look out- this culture will not accept you with great comfort. It doesn’t keep us from fighting for the truth, but it does prepare us for misunderstanding in the midst of this fallen world.

Some of my greatest hurts in life have come from friendly fire of Christians who do not back me in a good cause. It hurts, but that is life. We must not hold grudges and move on. Most men are at their core, weak and they flee from conflict. There are few who will stand and fight well. And that is not going to change anytime soon. Sometimes you fight with a few, but if the battle is a worthy one- fight on!

Lord, you are pictured as a ‘warrior God’, fighting for what is right. Help me have great discernment about the noble causes and help me stand firm when others flee, fail, or lash out at me in misunderstanding. AMEN