As a disciple I must choose my weapons of warfare, but they must not be “carnal” (2 Corinthians 10:4, KJV). Violence, treachery, and deceit are expressions of the natural man and never the spiritual. They are the products of a life controlled by sin.
My weaponry is to be spiritual, that is, God’s way of fighting a war. God does not destroy evil in a sudden stroke, although He could. To be that impatient with evil is not godly; there could be no salvation for anyone on that basis. To strike, to crush, to annihilate—those are the ways of Satan, not God. God overcomes by being overcome; Christ conquers by being crucified. Love wins by surrendering, yielding, submitting. It takes the sting out of evil by dying for it, thus giving birth to feeling, which is the first step in the process of our conversion.
My first step to victory in the holy war is to give up the natural way. The spiritual way is the way of love, which never cuts, wounds, or grieves, and yet it always wins (1 Corinthians 13:8). It is impossible for me to express the spirit of love naturally; I can only express it when Jesus Christ expresses it through me. Thus, it is absolutely true that Christian victory is not a thing but a Person.
The only way I can deal with the world of pain is to suffer that pain inwardly. If the suffering Servant lives in me, He will make me a sufferer also. You cannot bring God’s love up against human need without suffering a cross; and God wants to see that cross in me in order that the redemption life of His Son might flow to a badly torn, hurting world. For in His death is our life, and in His life is our victory (2 Corinthians 4:10).
“The love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5).
Daily with the King 