6:15
This is not a reluctant battle. We can feel intimidated or wearied by the battle. Today in the West this is perhaps felt most strongly in the issues over LGBT matters. The whole of society seems to be against us, parts of the church are against us. Even so-called evangelicals seem to be going soft on the issue. So we can feel intimidated, or simply wearied by the battle. This is not the right reaction. Insead our feet are to be “fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace”. We do not proclaim Biblical truth because we hate people, or because we want to tell people they are wrong. We do so because we want to proclaim life to people. It should be a joy to proclaim the gospel.
6:16
While it is a joy, it is also a battle, and a serious one at that. The enemy will not stand idly by, nor will he play fairly. We will be attacked, and the enemy will send fiery darts at us, things that have the potential to hurt us. So what do we do? We use the shield of faith, the shield of trusting in God, believing in His word. We need to know the truth, both knowing it in a factual sense (ie knowing what it says), and in understanding His word, and in the sense of having the heart of God. By that means we can extinguish the fiery darts. So things will come against us, but we can counteract these things.
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