Two neighbours were feuding for many years, over his dog which had died. Suspecting his neighbour of poisoning the dog, his suspicion marked his neighbour as the enemy. They stopped speaking to each other. Suddenly, one day the owner of the dog was sitting alone. His thoughts were centered around his beloved animal friend, and he realized that he had lived many years, and there was a possiblity that age could have been a factor in his demise. He immediately felt remorse for the many years of feuding with his neighbour and immediately ran over to his house, to ask his forgiveness.
In our walk with God, we too fall prey to fighting with each other. We falsely accuse each other on mere suspicion, vierwing each other as enemies. We eliminate people out of our lives, and do not speak to them, even taking measures to avoid seeing each other. We offend others, yet we refuse to say we are sorry. We find ourselves treating each other like the enemy and we move in for the kill, so to speak attempting to assinate each other's character, with slanderous gossip, and vivacious lies. We deceive ourselves into thinking we are defeating the enemy, as a result we feel a sense of satisfaction.
News Flash! Yes please pay attention! The word says that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. What does all this mean? Well let us look into the blue print for our lives. Ephesians 6:12 says " For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." These words clearly show us who the real enemy is. It says that Satan and his demons are the real enemy,flesh and blood, which is you and me, we are not each other's enemy.
The word then goes on to tell us how to equip ourselves to defeat the enemy. Ephesians 6:13 goes on further to say, " Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand."
Daily we must put on our head, the helmet of salvation. To protect the chest and the heart, put on the breast plate of righteousness. For our loins, put on the belt of truth. Our feet must have on the shoes of readiness, to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In one hand we must lift up the the shield of faith, to stop every device of the enemy. The other hand carries the sword of the spirit, drawn with the word, which is quicking and powerful. To stand in readiness, we must pray continually to defeat the enemy. It is a must to remain fully armored at all times, as we do battle through prayer and fasting. Yielding in complete obedience to the voice of the Father, with persistent praise and worship to our Abba Father, in spite of our circumstances and situations. Trusting Him to help us through the times of accusations, scandals and the many lies we must endure. So that our response would be that of forgiveness and compassion extending God's love. This will allow good to be displayed, instead of retaliation. This strategy defeats the enemy in his tracks!!!!!!