Spiritual Warfare or immaturity

Philippians 1:6

“Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”

Is it truly spiritual warfare—

the clash of kingdoms, light against shadow,

heaven’s army warring for the soul—

or is it simply spiritual immaturity,

our own pride, our own unyielded flesh,

draped in darkness and blamed on the devil?

Have we mistaken the voice of our unhealed offense for the hiss of the serpent?

Called our lack of discipline “oppression,”

and named every consequence “attack”?

We cry out, “I’m under fire!”—

but is it the enemy’s arrows,

or the weight of unchecked desires

finally bearing down?

There is a difference—

between being tried in the furnace

and dancing in the flames we lit ourselves.

We throw words like “warfare”

onto every discomfort, every delay,

when sometimes the fiercest battle

is not in the heavens but in the heart.

Not demons on our doorstep—

but idols at our table and compromise in our worship.

Yes, the enemy roams.

Yes, there is a war unseen.

But let us not cloak spiritual laziness

in the garments of martyrdom.

Let us not name our refusal to grow

as persecution from the pit.

Let the Spirit search us.

Let conviction cut us clean.

Let us weep for the ways we’ve weaponized the devil’s name

to avoid repentance.

For the true battlefield is holy ground.

And sometimes,

the most spiritual thing we can do

is take off our shoes,

bow low,

and let God show us

the war within.