1 Peter 2:11

“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul.”

  In this first letter of Peter to exiles, he is writing to encourage and remind the people of who they are in Christ and why they are in these places. Peter writes of being refined through testing and of our calling to be holy because we were bought with blood that is more precious than any silver or gold that we could ever attain. As I started reading in 1 Peter, I came to this verse and it really made me think. It made me realize the truth behind that statement and all that it really means. It is not only a good reminder that the things of this world are detrimental to our souls because they are not of the Lord, but also that we are at war for our souls. When we fight against temptation, it isn’t because our flesh doesn’t desire it, it is because our soul abhors it and it would bring darkness upon our hearts. As we go about our daily lives, it isn’t a war against flesh and blood, but of sin and evil and fighting against the enemy who wants nothing more than to see us turn from our marvelous and mighty Savior. In 1 Corinthians 10:13 it says, “No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” It never says in the Bible that we won’t be tempted, but we are assured that God fully equips us to fight against it and abstain from these temptations of the flesh. As we are saved and we have true life by our souls, we are here so that all may know of the war against our souls and how to find salvation in Christ. It isn’t simply fighting for yourself against these temptations, but walking alongside other believers to encourage them and also let Christ shine through so that those who are still walking in darkness can walk in Light and truth. As I started to realize this truth of the enemy waging war, I started to realize that I always though of it as a war on our flesh because Satan always attacks us in our flesh. He comes when he knows he can hot hard and with a weakness that we have in our flesh so that he can wage war against our souls. The Lord helped me understand this to help me understand that just because I am in a different place with different people doesn’t mean that the war isn’t still going on. As I’m here in Uganda, the war is still going on and Christ wants to use me and all of my teammates to be a light and His army so that we can fight and abstain from the flesh. As our team continues to grow and develop, we become more comfortable around each other and I have to watch that I am not acting in my flesh towards them just because I’m comfortable around them. That is my application, that I would love and fight alongside my team mates and be careful to not fight against them. This is my prayer, that God would present me with opportunity to come alongside them and fight with them against the war on our souls.