Sword Skills
Growing up in the islands, I constantly saw people using a machete for everything from clearing brush to opening coconuts. One day, after many years of watching people expertly wield this large knife, I was confident I could do it too, despite never having even held one. We were at the beach and someone had just cut some coconuts from the tree and I was ready to impress my friends with my machete skills. I remember the local men smirking as they handed me the machete, which was probably about two feet long. My first thought was that it was heavier than I thought it would be. Then, I realized the precision that was going to be needed to just open the coconut with this large blade and not obliterate it. Needless to say, I was out of my league and after a couple of weak attempts, I sheepishly handed the machete and coconut back to the men, who very capably finished the job. I had never even tried to develop machete skills and yet I was so sure I could perform a pretty complex task with only observation as my guide.
Don’t we do this in our Christian walk also? We go to church on Sundays, we surround ourselves with Christian friends, maybe we’re even in a small group. We know the verses and the stories on a surface level, and we read bits and pieces of our Bibles. But think about it in terms of a soldier preparing for a battle. After all, that’s what Paul compares us to right? A soldier doesn’t enlist and then just walk around observing all the other soldiers. He or she intentionally participates, trains and fully understands his or her role in the big picture.
This month, we’re at the end of Paul’s description of the spiritual armor that we need to walk confidently in our faith. We’ve talked about helmets, shoes, shields and more, all of which are important because they help us defend ourselves against the enemy’s blows. This last piece can be both defensive and offensive, which means that it can be used as a weapon to fight back. In order to use the sword successfully, Roman soldiers had to know how to use it – they couldn’t just pick it up and start swinging! They trained every morning with wooden swords that were deliberately much heavier than those they used in battle. I could have used that kind of training before I attempted to open a coconut with a machete! Had I spent any time at all trying to refine that skill, I would have been much more successful when my moment came.
In Ephesians 6:17 (NIV), Paul says, “Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” The sword in this verse belongs to the Holy Spirit, who supplies us this powerful weapon through our Bibles. It is offensive and defensive in nature and in a battle situation, when used correctly, it will allow us to fight back against the blows of our enemy.
Arrogantly wielding a large weapon is always a bad idea, and that holds true even when the weapon is the word of God. Hope Bolinger at Crosswalk.com says, “We can’t misuse the sword of the Spirit, or we’ll put ourselves in danger on the spiritual battlefield. Whenever using the word of God for the offensive (evangelism efforts) or defensive (apologetics), we need to know everything we can about it.” How do we do that? Well, the Holy Spirit is our starting point. The Spirit trains us in the word of God, and we just have to be available to be trained! Making time to not only just read our Bibles but allow the Holy Spirit to lead our Bible study is crucial! If this is something new to you, a great process to try is Lectio Divina (divine reading). Check out this fantastic beginner’s guide here.
Once we’ve begun engaging the Holy Spirit in our Bible study time, there are some practical things we can do to ensure we’re using our swords properly (adapted from Crosswalk.com):
1. Context is king
One of the worst ways to use your sword is to read it out of context, or read into it your own cultural biases (this is known as eisegesis). For instance, say you read Philippians 4:13. You read, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” If you don’t know the original context of this verse: Paul, suffering in prison, with a thorn (a weakness) that God won’t remove, you might interpret it differently. You might say, “Well, I can do all things, so I’ll win the Olympics.” That’s not what the verse says. To properly wield this weapon, we must learn all we can about it, including the context of certain passages.
2. Learn as much as you can about the sword
How do we do this? We study the Sword daily. We read our Bibles and study commentaries and hear sermons preached on the word, so we can gain an understanding of Scripture. 1 Peter 3:15 calls us to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have. But if we don’t have a solid knowledge of Scripture, we may not be able to give a proper explanation.
3. Ask God to reveal himself through the sword
We won’t always have all the answers. But, when we’ve accepted God as Savior of our lives, his Holy Spirit reveals his character and his plan for our lives through Scripture (1 Corinthians 2:10-15). By spending time with God in his Word every day, we learn more about him, and grow closer in relationship with him. All in all, we must put on any piece of the armor through prayer and through regularly engaging with Scripture, including the sword of the Spirit.
Erin is a speaker and leadership development professional who has been in the learning and development field for over 12 years. She has a unique ability to engage with her audience and create learning experiences that inspire change and action. She is poised, articulate and delivers her message with passion.
Erin feels that God has called her to use her professional skills to further His kingdom. She is passionate about helping people develop skills and knowledge that will empower them to answer Jesus’ call in their lives and understand how they are uniquely wired to respond to His leading. See Erin's other writings at: www.erhspeaks.com