Winning is a Choice
There are things you can win accidentally and there are things you cannot win accidentally. The walk of faith is one of those things that you cannot win accidentally. The challenges of life are amongst the things you cannot win accidentally.
Winning is being successful and victorious in a thing. In a football match, the team that doesn't care or think about winning is most likely to lose. The only way they'd win is if their opponents forfeited the match, or worked against themselves to lose and cause the other team to win.
In life, we have opponents: Satan and his devils—they are more than opponents; they are your enemies. Enemies do not have love or kindness for their enemies, they have hatred and ill intentions for them. The Bible defines one who hates another as a murderer (1 John 3:15). Which means that a person who hates you would feel better if you didn't exist—they'd be satisfied about your non-existence. The devil is your enemy, and the Bible says that he seeks to devour (annihilate) you (1 Peter 5:8), that is, to destroy you completely. He strategizes and plots against you to try to overthrow and defeat you.
You can never win such a battle accidentally because the enemy you're up against intends to win (prevail) against you. He won't give up, and he won't intentionally work against himself to overthrow himself and let you win. In order for you to win this battle, you must make the decision to win. If you don't make this decision, you will definitely lose and be disadvantaged. Jesus Christ defeated the devil for human beings. And the person who has received Jesus Christ is a sharer (an heir) of that victory over the devil—he is a victor over the devil; he has all power and authority over the devil. So the battle isn't a fight with the devil, but it's a fight of faith, where the devil throws different things against you (lies, temptations, problems, challenges etc.) in attempt to overthrow you and make you lose and weaken your faith in God and His Word because He knows that your faith is what keeps you in the position of victory and dominion over all adversaries and adversities. So the devil will always try to sway you from the truth (the Word of God), and that thing which is the source of your strength and faith (which is also the Word of God).
It's important to understand the character of your adversary—to know who or what you're up against—so that you can know how to deal with them. When the Apostle Paul was talking about the devil, he said, “...for we are not ignorant of his devices.” (2 Corinthians 2:11). Paul knew how his enemy worked, and his strategies, and he declared that Satan would have no advantage over him because he wasn't ignorant of his devices (schemes, ways of operation). The Apostle John communicated something along these lines also, he said, “I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.” (1 John 2:14). He shows that the ones who have overcome the devil in their every day walk are the ones who have the knowledge of the Word of God in them. This is because the Word of God strengthens one's faith and also reveals to him the character and ways of the devil—his enemy.
Thank God for His Word because it causes us to be wiser than our enemies! That's what King David said in Psalm 119:98: “Thou through thy commandments hast made me wiser than mine enemies: for they are ever with me.” So through the knowledge of the Word of God, one is made wiser than his foes—he has advantage over his enemies and not the other way around. And Ecclesiastes 7:12 tells us, “Wisdom is a defence....”
By Arthur Ncube
UK