For almost 2 years now I have been boxing, sometimes in the ring, sometimes in the streets. I put a lot of time, sweat, and blood into perfecting my craft; and still continue too on the race. However unlike the dedication I put into training my body and mind for fighting in the natural world, I lacked in preparing my mind and spirit for the spiritual war. Instead of focusing on equipping myself with the helmet of salvation I was wearing a soft head guard, instead of equipping the breastplate of righteousness I was strengthening my core, instead of taking up the sword of the spirit, I was putting on 16 ounce gloves. When boxing, a boxer does not simply go into a fight blind and hope that his skills out match his opponent’s; he studies his enemy. The boxer study’s his opponents mind set, his fighting style, his tricks, where his weak points are, everything. That way when the bell rings, he already knows what’s coming and knows how to defend against it. Satan knows the Bible from front to cover and knows exactly how to use it to his benefit. He knows how to put little whispers into our spirit that can lead to compromise, rationalization is one of his best weapons to use against us. Before a boxing match starts there’s always a conference between the two fighters and a large crowd of reporters. This conference is really when the fight begins, only mentally. Just like Satan, if you let your opponent get into your head and break you down, you’ve already lost the fight before it began. That’s why it is so important to always have on the armor of God, so Satan’s fiery arrows will not penetrate the mind. When a boxer seems to be loosing a fight and he has no clue what to do, he has a corner man to provide him with wisdom and encouragement. The same goes with Jesus, he is our corner man, he is the one person who knows exactly how to defeat our enemy. When it feels like we’ve taken too many hits, when it feels like we can no longer move forward, he’s there, in our corner, to restore. About a week ago when I was praying to God during worship he provided me with encouragement and told me that I need to continue reading “Putting On the Armor of God”. Since then I have been learning the tricks and schemes of the enemy and how to defend against them, putting on the armor piece by piece.
