Spiritually Struggling

I would like to talk about two “Christian” expressions which are not Christian. The first is “I’ve been struggling.” This expression would be a fine one if it were used biblically:

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6:12).

We are in a struggle. That is a fact. However, when people use the phrase today, what they mean is, “I am losing the struggle, and there is no way to win it.” They have fallen into sin, and they are trying to make a “spiritual” excuse for their defeat.

The second expression is similar: “It was a real learning experience.” That also sounds spiritual, but it really means, “The whole thing was a spiritual loss.”

We come out of both situations discouraged because both the “struggle” and the “learning experience” were sins that needed to be confessed. We give them spiritual names because we are not willing to call them sins. As a result, we are not forgiven, and we do not learn from them.

Do you need help and/or encouragement? We recommend How to Maintain Joy, Thankfulness and Confession: The Way to an Overflowing Heart, and How to Be Free from Bitterness, available at ccmbooks.org.

*Excerpted from Being Christian. To purchase, visit ccmbooks.org/bookstore.

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