This post is a follow-up to two previous posts on Spiritual warfare: Know Your Enemy and Know Your Enemy, Part 2.
It is vital to know yourself—your strengths and weakness. You must know what you are able to do and what you are not able to do. You must know the things you do well and the things you do not know well. This requires that you are completely honest with yourself which is sometimes very hard to do.
No experienced soldier would consider going in to battle with equipment or weapons they have never used or at least received any training on. An experienced soldier will know all about their abilities and equipment before they rush off to war. Soldiers receive extensive training in various weapons and hand-to-hand combat in addition to a vast array of knowledge in related fields.
On the other hand, Christians often enter into Spiritual warfare without the slightest idea what they are doing and as a result, often find themselves losing the battles they thought, for sure, they would win. We must know our strengths and our weaknesses. We must prepare for the battle.
In order to know our strengths and weaknesses we must get honest with ourselves and listen intently to the voice of God (our Commanding Officer). In prayer and meditation we must look at ourselves realistically and allow the Holy Spirit to reveal areas of weakness which might be blatant sin or it might be more subtle such as a lack of faith or lack of commitment. We must be ready to receive what the Holy Spirit reveals to us. If you have a strong Christian friend or mentor they would be good choices to talk with about this. On other hand, if you don't have a mentor I would like to encourage you to find someone. We all need someone we can trust and seek for Godly counsel. Once the weakness is identified seek guidance from the Holy Spirit about turning that weakness into strength.
In addition to knowing and working on our weaknesses we must also know what our strengths are and work to gain a greater advantage by honing those skills into keen weapons for God to use as He works out His purpose in your life. Not only do we need to know what our strengths are and work to improve our ability in these areas; we also need to put these strengths to good use in the Kingdom of God. You may be thinking that is obvious. I agree it seems obvious that we should do something with the area we identify as strengths in our lives but I think you would be surprised to know how many people sit back and relax and don't put to use skills and abilities they would consider strengths. A quick little phrase that might help remind you of this is "Know it, Grow it, Show it."
In Ephesians 6, Paul gives us the famous passage about the Armor of God, which includes the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the belt of truth, feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, and the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Paul finishes with "and pray in the Spirit." You may have heard it said that all the armor of God is defensive except the sword of the Spirit; I agree that this would be our only offensive weapon in the traditional sense. On the other hand, I believe prayer is a power offensive force that we need to utilize on a regular basis. Praying in the Spirit is not only telling God want we want, rather it is communicating with God in a Spiritual way regarding what we are to do in a situation. Communication with the Spirit of God needs to be two-way communication. We should do as much, if not more, listening that we do talking. Listening is hard, but it is necessary to know what to do.
I think we have additional offensive tools at our disposal—the gifts, skills, talents, and abilities God has empowered us with. When we use these with the Spirit's direction then we are moving in the offensive in our daily battles. When the Holy Spirit is working through us and manifesting His power through our God-given gifts and abilities we are truly taking ground for the glory of God. We cannot do this if we don't know ourselves realistically and according to God's wisdom.
I would encourage each of you to spend some focused time in discerning God's will and purpose in you—learning about you according to God's vision and plan for you. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you…" God has a plan for you. God knows you. God knows the potential you have and what you could accomplish working under His anointing and power.
When you know yourself according to God's understanding and plan you are able to honor God in a much greater way.
Blessings
Tim
