Know thy Enemy

Who is the enemy? Who stands in the way of us becoming who God created us to be? Before we can become the people that we were created to be we must first establish who the enemy is and how he works against us to prevent that as clearly as possible. Many people say that Satan and his demons are the enemies. Some claim that it’s our Flesh and others that we’re our own worst enemy. To an extent these are all valid answers, but it’s important to establish how these things work together as one cohesive unit.

Satan is the enemy commander and demons are his foot soldiers. What separates them from the other things that we fight against is that these are entities with  minds and wills of their own. However, unlike us, these entities are pure spirit so they can only affect us spiritually. We are spiritual beings clothed in flesh, which means that even while we live in the physical world our actions/words/thoughts/etc have a spiritual effect.

“Spiritual” definition:

1. Of, relating to, consisting of, or having the nature of spirit; not material; supernatural.
2. Of, concerned with, or affecting the soul.

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=spiritual+definition&atb=v314-1&ia=definition

To say that the Flesh is our enemy isn’t strictly accurate, the Flesh is a human weakness due to its corrupted nature. Because of its corruption we have a natural tendency to shy away from God. It causes us to pursue the things that God made for us to experience in the most unnatural ways. When we take that route, we are left feeling emptier than before because God isn’t in those things. When we say that we’re going to take what God made for us without going through him you can call it pride, idolatry, or self-worship. I won’t go into this much further because every born-again Christian understands the struggle with the Flesh. Of course, my point is that when I say “struggle” I’m referring to it as a weakness not an enemy. The enemy exploits this weakness at every turn, throwing it back in our face to try and make us feel that we are unworthy or incapable of following God. The sins that we commit act as the only source of ammunition for the enemy to use against us.

The good news though is that God does not demand perfection, he demands only our hearts. Through what Jesus did on the cross sin has been defeated, and for those of us who follow Christ it no longer has power over us. That’s not to say that we don’t still struggle with it, but we are no longer condemned by it. The source of the Enemy’s ammunition no longer packs a punch, he’s completely powerless.

“He personally carried our sins in His body on the cross [willingly offering Himself on it, as on an altar of sacrifice], so that we might die to sin [becoming immune from the penalty and power of sin] and live for righteousness; for by His wounds you [who believe] have been healed.”

‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭2:24‬ ‭AMP‬‬

https://bible.com/bible/1588/1pe.2.24.AMP

Despite the fact that God no longer condemns us for our sins we continue to condemn ourselves, and by doing so become our own worst enemy. The Enemy pours lies into our ears, and we work against ourselves and partner with him when we treat those lies as if they are credible. This shows us that the Enemy’s only weapon left is his tongue. The tongue is a strange weapon because its power over the listener comes from the listener themselves. We become our own worst enemy when we believe their lies, repeat them to ourselves, or take actions that reinforce them. Think about it and I’m sure you’ll be able to see evidence of this in your own life. It can come in the form of letting others define you by your past, telling yourself that you’re worthless, unwanted, or unloved, or lending such thoughts/words leverage by doing things that reinforce them, things that leave you feeling ashamed.

Fortunately for us, all of those are lies. The God that made you doesn’t define you by your past, but sees you as you are, spotless, covered in the blood of Christ. The God that made you doesn’t believe you’re worthless but loves you fiercely and counts you worthy in Christ. The God that made you sees your heart and calls you his, for he shaped your heart and has already defined you.
Satan and his demons are the enemies, and the Flesh is the weakness that they exploit. However, we become our own worst enemy when we give Satan back the power over us that was taken from him through the death of Jesus. The greatest way that we could dishonor our Lord Jesus is to hand the power that he lived and died to take away from the Enemy back over. Stand on the Word of God, believe what He says about who you are! You hold all the cards.