Over the next few weeks in our Rooted in Christ Study, we’ll be looking at some of the favorite passages from our staff at St. Matthew’s UMC. These are some of the parts of the Bible to mean to most to our staff.

Today’s reading is Ephesians 6: 10-18:

Today’s reading is about the armor of God.  There is much to unpack in this passage, but I really want to point out a couple of essential truths.  First, we see this. We are engaged in spiritual warfare. There are spiritual battles happening all around us. There is evil in the world, there are spiritual forces that are evil.  We don’t need to forget that. It’s easy to ignore or even laugh off spiritual realities. But they are there. We never need to forget that.

And second, we see who our true enemy in life is.  It is never another person.  Our enemies are those spiritual forces of wickedness.  No person is your enemy.  Your enemy is the devil.  We need to remember that. This world tells us that other people are our enemy. Today we are reminded that is simply not the case. The spiritual forces of wickedness, those are our enemies.  Not people. Never people. Our enemy is big and it is spiritual. Remember that. Be careful not to harden your heart against another. They are not your enemy.  The devil is.

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