Fast 40: Practicing the Ancient Spiritual Discipline of LentSample

The truth is that compromise only leads to more compromise. But Jesus never compromised. He never gave the Devil an inch. In fact, we see that He actually attacked the Devil in the last temptation. Jesus told the Devil, “Away with you, Satan!”

James 4:7 says, “Resist the devil and he will flee.” Are we resisting, or are we tolerating our spiritual enemies? Do we have enemy-love for the world, the flesh, and the Devil?

The three strategies of spiritual warfare are resistance, persistence, and insistence. We resist through belief in the Word of God—which is the virtue of faith. We persist by obedience to the Will of God—which is the virtue of hope. And we insist by desiring the God of the Word—which is the greatest virtue of love.

Jesus said, “The gates of hell will not prevail against you.” (Matthew 16:18). Think about that. Christ said that the Church is called to attack the gates of hell! Christians typically complain of demonic attack, but how many demons complain of Christian attack? The Christian is not only called to defend, he is called to offend the hordes of hell and to follow our Lord into the blazing spiritual battle against the world, the flesh, and the Devil.