Fighting the Good Fight

St. Paul urged Timothy to “fight the good fight of the faith” (1 Timothy 6:12). We have a spiritual adversary whose boldness was such that he went after Jesus Himself. Satan used bits of truth in citing Scripture but always manipulated toward temptation. He does the same to us and we are far weaker targets than the divine Son of God.

As men and women, we have lingering effects of the Fall. Out of hatred for God, the devil tries to exploit any opening in our hearts. Concupiscence and imperfections open the door to temptation and then sin. Sin then leads to wounds, and wounds can drive us deeper into sin.

St. James gives us the slippery slope: “each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death” (James 1:14-15). Satan’s goal is to use these effects of the Fall to drive us to eternal death. 

With a proper grounding in truth, however, we can say with the early Christians, O Happy Fault! These elements of our fallen nature opened up an even greater union with the Holy Trinity.

I Am Broken, Weak, Guilty, and Not Good Enough

Theologically, all of these things are true. We all have brokenness of some sort. Each of us is weak and can relate to St. Paul, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). We are sinners (Romans 3:23) and cannot get out of the tangle of our moral lives on our own. I do not possess the capability to attain heaven on my own.

There was a popular graphic recently, contrasting the verbs that God uses and those that the devil uses. Both see this list of human fallibility. The Father comforts us while the devil worries us. The evil one discourages us, and the Father encourages us. There is more to the list, but the main point is the viewpoint. If we see our “list” through the eyes of the Father, our hearts can be opened to His tender love.

Getting Us On the Ropes

Once we listen to the devil’s take on our “list,” and not Christ’s, the evil one starts throwing haymakers. All of these arguments merely box us into a corner to get us to reject God’s love. To each of us on some level—in a way that will reach us best—Satan reverses the divinely-revealed truth that we are not loveable. There is no hope. We are alone.

Anyone who has struggled with low self-esteem, depression, or thoughts of suicide knows that these blows are painful and difficult to break out of. That begs the question, what’s a broken, weak, guilty, not-good-enough person to do?

How to Stand and Fight

Over the past several years, Catholic men’s conferences have popped up more and more. Which is awesome! I find the images of a knight in full armor inspiring.  It reminds me of the “armor of God” passage in Ephesians (6:10-20). We stand in the middle of a spiritual battle between the hosts of heaven and the army of hell. The battle rages until our last breath whether we see it happening or not.

Step 1: Get Grounded in Truth

Despite the limits of human nature, Jesus calls us to the confidence of faith. St. Paul assures us with all his energy and confidence that we are never parted from the love of Christ.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35, 37-39).

This is where we start: firmly planted in Christ. We gain that grace through praying every day, reading Scripture, and regular reception of the sacraments. Far from being the destination, those things are the starting line.

Step 2: Understand the Weapons We Have

Our fight is spiritual, and however cool it would be to have a broadsword like William Wallace, our weapons are far more subtle. Jesus showed us all of them during His earthly life: prayer, fasting, preaching the truth with charity, treating all with Christ-like love, and forgiveness.

One of the most underrated virtues in our society is forgiveness. Vengeance is everywhere in shows and movies, and we relish when the bad guy comes to justice. Even if our opportunities for forgiveness come in smaller ways, it is hard to let go of grudges. Letting go of pain (however small) and letting Christ heal us carries immense spiritual power. It does not have to feel good at the moment; being able to forgive starts with an act of will.

In a somewhat backward way, our wounds can greatly advance us in the spiritual battle. By renouncing the lies and sins related to past wounds, we can open the door to Jesus Christ’s healing love. I have experienced this and the transformation in my heart was incredible. It became easier to get closer to God and it brought more grace to all my relationships. Yet it truly was a fight to work through those wounds, both for me and those around me. I did not feel remotely like a knight bravely fighting a dragon. The fight was me letting the grace of Christ flow through my brokenness and weakness in order to bring healing.

Step 3: Defend Yourself

Two contemporary exorcists recommend the greatest way to get a leg up on the demonic: live in a state of grace. Going to Sunday Mass and regular confession does not have the same mental picture as a knight riding into battle, but here again, the war is waged in habits like those. The exorcist Fr. Chad Ripperger is an excellent resource on spiritual warfare and has a series of free conferences on the subject. Another exorcist, Msgr. Stephen Rossetti, created an app with deliverance prayers–accompanied by a set of instructions for the ordinary Catholic.

The angels and saints are rooting for us and eager to assist with their prayers. Our guardian angels accompany us throughout life; we can always ask for our angel’s help. The Blessed Virgin Mary is not only our mother in heaven but also a warrior. Many statues and images of Our Lady show her stepping on the neck of the serpent–that is, the very serpent that assails us. Pray the rosary every day.

And as the culture rushes headlong toward godless secularism, an increasingly important defense is guarding what we take into our minds. Reject movies, music, and other entertainment that runs contrary to the gospel. No amount of accommodation with sin is harmless.

Perseverance 

Run the race to the end, let Christ fight within until the finish line is crossed. The end result of Christ’s healing and a state of grace gives us far more freedom than life without morals or limits. The Catechism reminds us of what freedom is for: “so that they are capable of loving him and loving one another” (CCC #387).

Weakness gets turned on its head through Our Lord. St. Paul asked that his thorn in the flesh be taken away; Jesus refused.

He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ I will all the more gladly boast of my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities; for when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).