Today's Spiritual Warfare

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world, you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. (John 16:33)

Do you seek peace? Of course, you do. Jesus knew the deepest longings of the human heart. This is why so much of his preaching goes to the core of our being. He is talking about life and he is talking about us. Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves.

In the world, you will have trouble. Jesus knows this and he puts his finger in the wound. What are the troubles that you are experiencing today? What do they do to you? The Devil does not want you to be at peace. He wants to stir up your soul and have you dwell on your past failings. When we are about to fall into sin, our conscience serves as the voice of God and tells us "Don't do it." Meanwhile, the Devil tries to get us to ignore our conscience and tells us to "Go ahead." But after we fall into sin, God looks at us and says, "don't worry about it. Dust yourself off and get back to work." The Devil, on the other hand, wants us to wallow in guilt and self-pity and says to us: "God could never forgive you."

Jesus calls to the center and core of our being. He wants us to experience true peace. So often, the world offers us false promises of peace. We think of a very cheap version of leisure as the fullest expression of peace.

Why are you worried? What has you upset? Are you able to give yourself answers to these questions? Because only when we identify our problems are we able to take steps to resolve them.

What does the word "peace" mean to you? It is good to internalize the meaning of the word peace. Most of the time, we think of peace as freedom from disturbance or difficulty. I like to think of peace as harmony, equilibrium, and balance. Because I believe that too many people flee from disturbance, but that they do not really achieve this ever. However, when we accept a certain amount of commotion in our lives but see that it balances with other elements, we can do better. When we expect life to be easy, we find it to be very difficult. But when we look at life as being difficult and do our best to face this reality, we are able to withstand a lot of difficulty with a brave heart.

What are you willing to do for peace? Jesus has an approach to peace that seems to mirror the Latin adage: "si vis pacem, para bellum." "If you want peace, prepare for war." Jesus has us engage in spiritual warfare. We defend ourselves and prepare for spiritual battle through prayer and building up our life of virtue. However, whatever spiritual battles we may have, Jesus has already won the necessary grace through his sacrifice on the Cross.

Question for the day: Do I truly believe that Jesus is interested and engaged in my spiritual warfare?

I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world, you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world. (John 16:33)