Alternative View - November 9, 2017
Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. - (1 Corinthians 1:10)
We don’t have to be Christians for very long to discover that the Christian life is a battleground, not a playground. This is because we are waging war in a conflict with a spiritual foe. One of Satan’s strategies is to get us to forget that we are fighting a spiritual battle and to focus on the physical, tangible challenges we face instead. Unfortunately, he will often use people to do just that.
Do you ever think, “My life would be so wonderful if it weren’t for people”?
Most of the problems that we face, in one way or another, can be traced back to people. It could be your mate, your family, your coworkers, or even people with whom you simply do business.
If you look a bit closer, though, behind the scenes of these conflicts and challenges in your life, you will see someone else who is lurking there with a conniving scheme to disarm and defeat you. That someone is Satan—busy pulling the strings and pushing the buttons in this invisible war raging all around us.
One of Satan’s primary strategies is to use people to engineer our spiritual downfall by driving wedges between us that shatter our unity and draw our focus away from God. God is a God of unity, and He hangs out where oneness abounds.
Reflection: Where has a wedge been driven in unity between you and fellow Christians? Where have you erred in the other direction, ignoring truth in order to “get along” with someone? Is there anyone in your life with whom you need to be reconciled, or to whom you need to confess that you have been living under a false peace of ignoring truth?
Dear God, it is easy to become distracted by what someone else is doing or saying and think that they are the real problem when, in fact, Satan is simply using them to bring about disunity and harm. Give me a heart of kindness, compassion, and understanding—knowing that You love each of us and seek for us to live lives in unity under You.
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