Combating Evil
There is evil in the world. ISIS, Hamas, and other terrorist groups would be at the top of my list right now. There are politicians who want to rule to gain power rather than govern to serve others. Then there’s evil like those who fight for abortion “rights” and the repeated killing of innocent life. Enslaving young girls into sex trafficking is evil and there are nations where young women just can’t leave their homes un-chaperoned because they will not return with their virginity. Someone will forcefully take it. There are too many examples to name.
The other evil we fight against is the evil in our own hearts. We are all sinful creatures. Many people are zealous for their own comfort, their own success, or their own way regardless of what it costs others.
It’s easy for me to hear about the ISIS soldiers or the abortion providers and see, “evil lies close at hand” as Paul points out in Romans 7. But, I feel like a pretty good person. The truth is that sin lives within me. The great news for the believer in Jesus Christ is that God, the Holy Spirit, also lives within us.
The scriptures are clear that God is greater than any evil we come up with and any evil of Satan or the world. 1 John 4:4 says, “Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.”
The more we know God the more we will love Him, as is true for us in human relationships. There is effort involved when we get to know someone. We have to read His letters to us in the scriptures. We must spend time talking to Him in prayer. James 4:8 instructs us, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” The more we know, the closer we get.
How to actually combat evil with this knowledge is another story. That requires more effort. Having the Holy Spirit in us is God’s doing. Staying strong in faith is ours to do. The Holy Spirit says He will remind us of what Jesus has taught us. Well, we have to pull out the scriptures and learn so He can remind us.
2 Corinthians 10:4-5 tell us that the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh (they are not of us) but they are of the divine power of God and are able to destroy strongholds, our own strongholds of evil or those of much bigger evil in the world. Ephesians 6:17 reminds us of two of our best weapons: “And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
God’s Word is our mightiest weapon to fight evil — the evil in our own hearts and the evil in the world. The whole counsel of God is given to us to convict of sin, reveal the evil in our hearts, and teach the way to destroy strongholds.
We can pray it, we can learn it, we can be reminded of how to apply it, and we will have less evil with each step of personal growth. But, if we never talk about it, if we refuse to tell the evil people what it says, and if we are more afraid of their evil than we are of our God – we won’t be combatting evil in a way that changes anything.
If I am physically attacked I am certainly justified in physically defending myself. But on offense my weapons are not carnal but spiritual.
The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God.