We all face many trials of varying degrees and levels, but the predictability of our enemy has given us many decisive advantages. The first thing to understand is that the nature of our war is not based in the physical, but in the supernatural or spiritual. As Ephesians 6:12 says,"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."
This battle against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms requires the use of some WMDs (Weapons of Mass Discipleship). The truest strength and greatest weapon is that we rely on a relationship so powerful and so unbreakable between ourselves and our creator. To say that God is my friend, my lover, my salvation, and my father is to express only a fraction of what my relationship with Him means to me. As we dive deeper into the spiritual world there are a few ROEs (Rules Of Engagement) to go over,
#1 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind
#2 Love your neighbor as yourself.
The second ROE is to recognize the importance of each other. We show others the love that God has first established within each of us that shines like the stars. As a person I will continue to remain flawed and imperfect, but God's power is made perfect in weakness. What we should strive for everyday is not just remembering, but put into practice this phrase, "Hate the sin and not the sinner." The enemy will attempt to do two things that will almost always result in a fatal or kill shot. The first is to separate us from each other and not just from other believers, but from everyone. Matthew 18:20 has this to say, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." It is true that Christ is present when a fellowship of believers exists. However, the difficulty that our enemy faces in this respect is with the instability of the lost ones. Our enemy knows better than to leave someone with any sort of positive relationship. While the short term benefits of a few bad influences may entice their cause enough it will not last.
The ultimate goal is to sever all active relationships in order to suffocate a person to the point of either physical or spiritual death. The second goal of hating the sinner instead of the sin is to stir up hatred. One might say that this is also the partial objective of the first goal however that opinion would only be partially correct. Hatred is a very different beast than the kind of slow submission caused through apathy and depression. And make no mistake hatred is much more hidden, dangerous, and even deadly. Instead of a belief that denies God, hatred believes in the power of one's self over God.
Everything in the spiritual world functions off of belief. It was the false beliefs of Lucifer and the Fallen that resulted in their condemnation. It is the pure beliefs of children that allows them to so freely and honestly love God as was originally intended. All of these points to simply explore the importance of the first weapon, friendship.
In the story by Charles Dicken's, A Christmas Carol, the main character Scrooge is forever changed when he renews his faith in his fellow man. The importance of relationships wasn't lost even on the Almighty. In the Genesis account God describes all of the events that took place in creating the Earth and the only time that He was ever unsatisfied with His work was when He realized that man was alone. We were made for fellowship. Fellowship with other people and with God, but more than fellowship is friendship. Friends are those who along with God and in the Spirit stand with you, laugh with you, play with you, and FIGHT with you. They are your battle buddies, your shipmates, your wingmen. The enemy knows that those bonds of strong fellowship rooted in Christ can lead to a type of love that is not easily shaken let alone broken. The reason* why this poses such a problem for the enemy and subsequently continues to remain one of our great weapons is found in 1 John 4:16 "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."
* As a small disclaimer to clarify the point, the marriage between a man and a woman is the greatest representation of God's love for us and our love for Him. "Brotherly love" is only one of the many loves where God is present.
