Do you like being in the winning team? Everyone likes being on the winning team, right? But which one is it?... It is God’s Team. But,
watch out! because Satan, who is the inventor of all lies, makes believe that he is going to win. Don’t let the Evil One fool you!
No one can escape the spiritual combat that Saint Paul wrote about: “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood … against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ef. 6, 11-12).
Therefore, although the fight against the Devil and the rest of the evil spirits is a spiritual warfare, it is very real. As a matter of fact, a “real” battle is being fought between the forces of Evil (of Satan) and the forces of Good (of God). And we are all included in this combat, each one on its side. And Sacred Scripture tells us which one is the winning side.
We are in battle, then. So we cannot pretend not to have temptations. We cannot even pretend to never sin, as even the saints have sinned, and the Bible tells us that the saint sins seven times.
Nevertheless, the key in our behavior about temptations is in Proverbs: “For a just man shall fall seven times and shall rise again: but the wicked shall fall down into evil.” (Prov. 24, 16). The difference between someone who tries to be saint and the relentless sinner is not that the saint never sins, but that when he falls he raises himself. But the relentless sinner continues un-repented and committing more sins.
If the Bible tells us that we are not going to be free of temptations, and we also know this from experience, we have to actively fight against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. Prayer is a must in this fight.
To be holy does not mean not to be tempted, but to win the fight over the temptations. And we have all the necessary help from God to be in the winning team, in order to win the spiritual battles and the Final Battle. Amen.
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