Relationships in a War Zone

As I sat in a hospital bed and held my first child, grief began to consume me. My sweet baby girl would face a harsh, dark world. This world would not be kind to her and would offer many traps and snares. Maybe this grief for you first surfaced when your honeymoon ended and marriage became work. Maybe you feel this weight watching your sweet little baby fall into the world’s grip as a teenager.

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, identifies a war against “the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We are in a battle. That reality exists in all our relationships. We try to make godly decisions about dating, friendships, how we treat our spouses and how we raise our children. Often, these decisions become a series of battles as we attempt to do the right thing. I feel like I am in a constant state of defense, and it is exhausting.

In Ephesians 6:10-20, God reveals to that He has equipped us with armor for the battle. Every piece of armor mentioned is used to defend an attack except for one. The only offensive weapon Paul mentions is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. With the Word, we go on the attack. Scripture is powerful, it can change the way we think and the way we pray.

So what does using the word of God as a weapon look like?

• Spend time every day reading the Bible alone, let it change your heart
• Read and discuss Scripture with your spouse, children, or those close to you
• When you come across a promise from God in His word, pray it back to God asking him to make it real in your life
• When something in Scripture challenges you or encourages you, talk about it with God and those close to you

If we can do these four things, our relationships will drastically change.

We sense the overwhelming need to fight for those we love and for our relationships to withstand the storms of life. We attempt to pursue godly relationships, strengthen our marriages and raise our children to love Jesus. However, if we do not spend time praying and reading the Bible, then we really are not fighting with power. God describes himself in the Bible as a warrior, our defender. He wants us to come to him, wants us to cry out to him for help in protecting our closest relationships. We serve a God who takes joy in coming to our rescue. How great is that?