The Battle for Our Minds

Life, then, is a battle for our minds. How do we fight the battle? What’s our strategy? When Paul explains that “we do not wage war as the world does” (2 Corinthians 10:3), he uses the word strateia meaning strategy. In Paul’s day strategy was inseparably linked to “generalmanship”—the tactics and war plans of the highest-ranking military officer. Two generals hand us our marching orders. Which general’s strategy will win our minds?

The False Seducer’s grand strategy is to blind us to God’s true nature. Being the father of lies, the creator of the lying narrative, he attempts to cause us to see God as the Evil Emperor, Darth Vader, or Ming the Merciless. He wants us to view God as malevolent. We’ve scouted his subterfuge. He tempts us to reinterpret our image of God. God is a Bully, Christ is our prison Warden, and the Holy Spirit is an impersonal Force. Satan also deludes us into reinterpreting our relationship to God—God is our Enemy.

We also now know our Worthy Groom’s counter-strategy. He opens our eyes to the true nature of life: life is a love affair set amidst a grand adventure. God is our pursuing Father and we are His adult sons and daughters. Christ is our forgiving Groom and we are His virgin brides. The Holy Spirit is our inspiring Mentor and we are His best friends and disciples.

(Robert Kelleman, Soul Physicians, p. 110).