Who's the Enemy?

When a friend of mine came under attack and was falsely accused, threatened and treated maliciously, I did what any good friend would do—I raised my hackles and plotted revenge! That IS what a good friend would do, isn’t it . . . ?

Fighting back is a natural response to unfair treatment from others, and if I’m defending a friend and not myself, it feels like “righteous indignation”— at least until I remember an important principle from Ephesians 6:12.

"For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."

According to this passage, Satan is our enemy, not other people (flesh and blood). He often uses other people to hurt us, to irritate us, or to offend us; but we must remember that’s just one of his diversion tactics to get us off track—to get our minds off the Lord, to get us thinking ungodly thoughts, to destroy our witness for Christ when we lash out at others.

My friend responded to the attack with far more class than what I mustered; but, as with most things in life, it was another opportunity for God to remind me of how unlike my ways are from His and another opportunity for me to grow. Next time I will remember where to direct my anger!