Colleen Orchanian

I was noticing the other day that my writing mood had changed. For twenty weeks, I wrote about spiritual attacks, describing how the devil tries to get us to turn away from God. Last week, I shifted gears to guide you through an inventory of those attacks, and I teased you with the upcoming episodes on the weapons available to help us fight the good fight. That's when my mood changed—and I needed that! It's easy to get bogged down in how bad the attacks can be, which is another spiritual attack. But then I began to focus on what God has provided so that we don't fall for the attacks. And I got excited. I got energized.

Ephesians 1:3 tells us that God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places. We have everything we need. Our spiritual arsenal is huge—or could be. A soldier can have a gun, but it's useless if he doesn't know how to use it. If it's jammed, it's useless. The same holds true for our spiritual weapons. We have to keep the weapons battle-ready, and sometimes we don't. They are available to us, but we have to learn how to use them, and we have to maintain them.

The first weapon in our spiritual arsenal is the Sword of the Spirit.
 

I have a lot of Baptist friends, and they know the Bible. They quote Scripture verses easily, and that used to intimidate me. As a cradle Catholic, I didn't memorize verses or do Bible Drill. I probably couldn't have told you whether a book was in the Old or New Testament. I was ignorant of Scripture.

St. Jerome, who translated the original text of the Bible into Latin, famously said, Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. I can't argue with that. I went to church through most of college and then was absent for 20 years. God was real to me (meaning I believed He existed), but not personal because I didn't know Scripture. That's why it was so easy to ignore Him. But being the Good Shepherd, He went after His lost sheep (me) and I began a journey through Scripture that continues to this day.

Spiritual attacks often succeed when we don't know the Word of God. I mean both the Word, as in the Bible, and the Word, meaning Christ. I can be deceived about who I am, who God is, and how I should relate to others in the world. Surely that happens even when you quote scripture and verse, but it is less likely.

Think about the devil's attack on Jesus in the desert. His temptations came in the words of Scripture. Because Jesus is God, the attacks didn't work, and he used Scripture in response to the temptations. We, too, should do that.

When attacked, Scripture is a powerful weapon, but I have to be familiar with it. His Word is called the Sword of the Spirit in Paul's famous letter to the Ephesians on the Armor of God. So, how sharp is my sword, and do I know how to use it? Good questions for all of us.

If I hear in my head, "You are worthless and God doesn't want you." I can reject that lie with God's truth in John's first letter that I am a beloved child of God. (1 John 3:1)

If I hear in my head, "God is waiting for you to sin so He can punish you," I can reject that lie with the words of Jesus, I did not come to condemn the world but to save it. (John 3:17)

Sometimes we need someone to remind us of God's word when we are attacked. That's what happened with the disciples on the Road to Emmaus. They were discouraged after the crucifixion, which is a spiritual attack. All their hopes were in Jesus, and now he was dead. Jesus begins to walk with them, although they don't recognize Him, and he opens up the Scriptures to them, explaining why things had to happen as they did. Jesus used the Word of God to help them fight the attack. He didn't reveal Himself until after the attack was over.

It's clear that Scripture is important. 2 Timothy 3:16 reads, All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness. Is that true for you? Do you use it to learn, to correct, to become holy?

If you are where I was 20 years ago and you don't know the Bible, it's time to make a change. Read and study the Bible. That might mean using a commentary and studying different books throughout the year. It could involve joining a Bible study at church or listening to Bible in a Year with Fr. Mike Schmitz. The more you study, the more you will become a master swordsman.

I went to Bible Studies for at least ten years and then began leading them. All that study paid off when I was challenged in my faith. I could answer questions, navigate the books of the Bible, and explain the meaning of many stories and parables. I was learning how to use the Sword of the Spirit. I sometimes lost a few battles when I thought I knew more than I did, but that was part of the process.

I encourage you to make a plan to learn the story of salvation history in the Bible. You will come to know who God is—the real God, not the false gods suggested by the enemy. You will come to know how much God loves you because the Word of God is one very long love letter to His children. You will be convicted of the need to change how you relate to the people around you so that you can follow Jesus' command to love your enemies. All the image distortions suggested by Satan can be eliminated by studying Scripture.

Once you know the Word, you aren't done. You need to live in the Word every day. My daily routine includes the Mass readings of the day (2-3 readings and a Psalm) and the Divine Office, which is many Psalms each day and one longer reading from another book. In a year, I read the entire Bible through those daily readings. I sometimes choose to do a Bible Study during a particular season like Advent, Lent, or Easter. These studies get me deeper into a passage than I might go in my morning Bible readings.

That's what works for me. Find something that works for you. If you aren't much of a swordsman right now, plan to study and train. If you already know the Word, keep practicing and maintain your edge. You want to get to where verses come into your mind at the opportune moment. You don't have to know where it is in the Bible, so don't stress about that part. Just keep reading, meditating, and praying with the Word. God will move in your heart in His time.

When you know Scripture, you have one of the most powerful spiritual weapons and can resist enemy attacks. There is power in the Word.

Questions for Prayer:

1. How good are you with the Sword of the Spirit? What are your strengths, and where would you like to improve?

2. What is one thing you can do to be stronger with the Sword of the Spirit? When will you begin? Is there someone who can help you?