Attention Word Slingers readers: Beginning December 11, 2019, all posts will be available at BaptistMessenger.com. Thank you for reading Word Slingers!

I got to thinking about this question this week.

We have to get our heads around the idea that people are not who we are to battle against. Someone I don’t agree with is not my enemy. The devil does a really good job at distracting us from waging war on our own sin and on him; rather he convinces us to focus on fighting each other.

Look at this: “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do” (Gal 5:16-17).

Dear Christian, the battle you are to be fighting is not with other people.  You see, the people you engage everyday are not your true enemy.  That “battle” is just a shadow of the real war that is raging behind the curtain.  The focus needs to be on the real war at hand.  When we put our focus on the real war, this is when ground is won!  When we focus on fighting our own personal sin and resisting the devil, that is when we make real progress!

When you don’t focus on the real battle at hand we make up battles to focus on, and that’s when discord shows its ugly face in our relationships.  Stop putting your focus on other people, but rather make war on your own personal sin and walk in such a way as to gratify the desire of the SPIRIT, not your flesh!

This is how you win!