3 For though we walk in
the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the
weapons of our warfare are not
carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting
down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of
God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and
being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. 2 Corinthians 10:3-6
Do you know that God’s Word is a powerful force against the
philosophies and secular reasoning of this age? It contains godly wisdom,
knowledge, and direction for every area of our lives. Although people have
tried to discredit the bible, it has stood the test of time. As a Christian man
you know the bible works because look at the change in your life today? You are
not the man that you once were. Yet, there are forces of darkness working
through the secular society that we live in that fights against our faith. In
the above passage, notice the words that are used such as war, weapons,
strongholds, arguments, captivity, and punish. These were strategically written
by God to help us comprehend the kind of battle or debate that rages against
our minds.
Here is the thing; we don’t have to receive the blows from
secular reasoning and its temptations. We must rise up and be valiant men in
holding fast our Christian values. We don’t have to surrender to an enemy
(Satan) who our Champion, Jesus Christ has defeated. In verse 4, it tells us
that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal. This means we no longer have to
resort to tactics, ideas, and lifestyles that are by secular means in attempting to live morally. On the contrary, our weapons are mighty in God to the pulling down of strongholds. This means the way we win for our faith comes
through God’s might and not our own.
As men, we are hard-wired with strategy, analytic reasoning, and dominance. Too many Christian men are still trying to fight in their own
wisdom, ideas, and personal approach to matters of their lives. Those tactics
or arsenals are no longer needed to sustain us. Let’s face it, one of the
hardest things to convey to Christian men is they no longer have to use their
own might when facing life's challenges. Before we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and
Savior we marched to our own beat. Now that we have decided to place our faith
in Christ we are exhorted through scripture to allow him to lead. He is the vine and we are the branches (John 15:4-5). When we are submitted to His lordship things work out in us for the best; even
if things don’t work for the best around us.
Each day Christian men are facing all sorts of challenges but
none greater than resorting to our own method of figuring life out; however, we
must rise to this challenge and declare a complete and total dependence on God.
We accomplish this by training our minds with God’s word each day (Matthew 4:4). We cannot
let up for a second. We must be offensive by starting our days off with prayer,
reading, and meditating on the words in the bible. We don’t have to wait until
a situation arises and then start defending; but we can score first with
approaching each day with submission to God.
Finally, the way we win is not the way we are used to winning.
You know, using our own might, wisdom, force, and knowledge on matters.
However, winning for us is submitting to God and allowing him to handle matters
his way. This is a great challenge for us as men because as stated, we often
feel that we must exercise our methods in handling matters. Our victory can
only be achieved when we practice submitting ourselves daily to God’s leading
by his Spirit, and through his Word.
