7 Principles of Spiritual Warfare

For, although we are in the flesh, we do not battle according to the flesh, for the weapons of our battle are not of flesh but are enormously powerful, capable of destroying fortresses. We destroy arguments and every pretension raising itself against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive in obedience to Christ, 2 Corinthians 10:4-6

This post is about spiritual warfare. Fighting the good fight!

There are numerous strategies we can follow to combat a formidable and relentless opponent. Below are seven (7) principles I learned from Fr. Mark Goring via YouTube.

Father Mark Goring is a Catholic priest and a member of The Companions of the Cross. The Companions of the Cross are a community of Catholic priests inviting people to know Jesus and empowering them to share Jesus.

The seven principles of spiritual warfare Fr. Goring teaches are as follows:

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE # 1: Know who you are.

The important thing here is not to be deceived by the devil with the life God has given you. You are a child of God (1 John 3:2). The devil does not want you to believe this.

Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. 1 John 2:22

Obviously, the devil has been very successful with his cunning ability to convince people to do anything but worship God. We know from the first three commandments of the Decalogue, the Ten Commandments, God must be our all.

“The love of Christ must come before all else. – St. Benedict

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall not have other gods beside me.

You shall not make for yourself an idol or a likeness of anything in the heavens above or on the earth below or in the waters beneath the earth; Deuteronomy 5:6-8

The first three commandments of the Ten Commandments are as follows:

1. I AM THE LORD THY GOD: THOU SHALT NOT HAVE STRANGE GODS BEFORE ME.

2. THOU SHALL NOT TAKE THE NAME OF THE LORD THY GOD IN VAIN.

3. KEEP THE SABBATH HOLY.

Jesus has given us the Church and he has given us assurance the gates of hell will not prevail against it (Mt 16:18). The Church has been built by Christ to last forever, and we have been chosen to be a part of it. Don’t miss the opportunity!

“Oh Catholic faith, how solid, how strong you are! How deeply rooted, how firmly founded on solid rock! Heaven and earth will pass away, but you can never pass away.” – St. Fidelis

The devil, however, wants you to fall away and abandon the Church. And this helps explain why there are so many empty seats at Mass. The devil deceives. Lies and deceit are his diabolical specialty. He deceives people, especially fallen away Catholics, into thinking their Christian faith in Jesus is no longer needed.

Do not be surprised that, as time goes on, our ancient foe will fight all the harder to wipe out the Christian religion. – St. Gregory VII

The disturbing proof is in the numerous empty seats at Mass. Shortly after the September 11, 2001 terror attacks church pews throughout much of America were full. Then after a while, the devil began to pick off people from the pews through an array of diabolical tactics, and these diabolical tactics are being carried out on us today.

Then the dragon became angry with the woman and went off to wage war against the rest of her offspring, those who keep God’s commandments and bear witness to Jesus. Revelation 12:17

The devil even tempted Jesus to question his own identity in the Gospels!

Then the devil took him to the holy city, and made him stand on the parapet of the temple,

and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down… Matthew 4:5-6

Do you not think the devil won’t tempt you into abandoning your Christian identity ?

Christ could have kept the devil from himself; but if he were not tempted he could not teach you how to triumph over temptation.” – St. Augustine

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE #2: Remember we are at war.

The war is ongoing, and we are thrust in the battle whether we like it or not, and whether we choose to believe it or not. This key spiritual warfare principle reminds us to remember each day that we are at war with the enemy, the devil and his demons.

“To stand fast in battle on the day of the Lord means to oppose the wicked enemy out of love for what is right.” – St. Gregory

With that said, it is time to put on the spiritual armor of God.

Put on the armor of God so that you may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil. Ephesian 6:11

The good news of the Gospels is Jesus has decisively won this war with his saving work on the cross and resurrection. Sacred Scripture, however, does soberly remind us we are still very much engaged in a battle with a cunning and unholy enemy:

Be sober and vigilant. Your opponent the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for [someone] to devour. 1 Peter 5:8

This is why it is a good idea to take time to pray the Lord’s Prayer each day. We win this battle firmly rooted in God. By all means, hide in Jesus’ wounds! This is not a battle we can win on our own. We will perish if we abandon our faith in Jesus the LORD.

Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this faithless and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels. Mark 8:38

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE #3: Know the tactics of your enemy.

The aforementioned verse from 1 Peter gives some indication of what kind of opponent we are dealing with: a fallen angel, the Evil One. Our opponent, the devil, roams around the world – even as you read this – looking for someone to devour.

The LORD said to the satan, “Where have you been?” Then the satan answered the LORD and said, “Roaming the earth and patrolling it.” Job 1:7

TACTIC #1: The satan is the ACCUSER. He attacks our conscience and our spirit.

The accuser: the meaning of the Hebrew word “Satan,” found in

Satan continues to accuse Christ’s disciples. Source: USCCB

The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.

Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: “Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. Revelation 12:9-10

TACTIC #2: The devil is the DECEIVER. Not only does Satan lie, he is the father of lies.

Listen to what Jesus has to say about the devil in John’s Gospel:

…He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in truth, because there is no truth in him. When he tells a lie, he speaks in character, because he is a liar and the father of lies. John 8:44

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE #4: Keep your peace.

Easier said than done in this day and age, but that is what we are called by God to do.

And let the peace of Christ control your hearts, the peace into which you were also called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15

If you do fall in sin get back up and keep moving! Go to confession if you can and take time to examine your conscience each day and confess your sins to God.

If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing. 1 John 1:9

This spiritual warfare battle is won in Christ. Thus, our hearts should be formed:

in Prayer
in the Word
in Preaching
in the Sacraments

And when we focus on being humble we find favor with God.

And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: “God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.” 1 Peter 5:5

Not so with the devil. The devil wants to deceive, confuse and corrupt you. This is why we must remain close to God. God wants to give us his peace.

…He is not the God of disorder but of peace. As in all the churches of the holy ones, 1 Corinthians 14:33

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE #5: Need to know your weaknesses.

When the enemy attacks, the first thing he looks for is the weakest line of defense. Only a fool doesn’t want to take a step back and consider what his weaknesses are.

The wise person is cautious and turns from evil; the fool is reckless and gets embroiled. Proverbs 14:16

We as human beings are inclined to sin, and we all do.

all have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Here are the 7 deadly sins. Which of these sins apply to you in your own life?

Anger
Gluttony
Greed
Pride
Lazy
Lust
Envy

We must avoid sins. Should we neglect this we give the enemy a stronghold on us. If we live a life in unrepentant sin we might lose the battle, and there is simply too much at stake not to live a repentant life and make atonement to God for our many sins.

Whoever sins belongs to the devil, because the devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the devil. 1 John 3:8

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE #6: Need to have a Holy Spirit inspired specific strategy.

Let’s take a look at what the fruits of the Holy Spirit are:

…the fruit of the Spirit is

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Generosity
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

Galatians 5:22-23a

You can combat your weaknesses with your virtuous characteristics given to you by the Holy Spirit. Example: if you struggle with lust, combat it with generosity.

As water quenches a flaming fire, so almsgiving atones for sins. Sirach 3:30

Generous donations and works of charity will help to yield favor from the Lord.

The generous will be blessed, for they share their food with the poor. Proverbs 22:9

If you struggle with anger, combat it with some devotional prayers each day. Simply praying some Hail Mary prayers after any type of outburst or disturbance can help humble the soul, and it is a great way to combat one’s own demons.

“The Hail Mary puts the devil to flight and causes Hell to Tremble with terror.” – St. Bernard

Any exorcist priest will tell you: The demons will flee in fear whenever they hear a Hail Mary prayer. Please consider the rosary as a devotional prayer.

“Through devotion your family cares become more peaceful, mutual love between husband and wife become more sincere, the service we owe to the prince becomes more faithful, and our work, no matter what it is, becomes more pleasant and agreeable.” – St. Francis de Sales

SPIRITUAL WARFARE PRINCIPLE #7: Remember the Lord.

Remember what is most important in life is union with God. We win the spiritual warfare battle in Christ. Without Jesus, we would wither away and be lost.

Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. John 15:5

You can have it all, as they say: wealth, pleasure, power, and fame.

But if there is no union with God in your life, the devil has won his battle against you.

A primary tactic of Satan and his demons is to get you to pursue false idols.

Some examples of false idols today are:

Sports
Entertainment
Recreation

The demons don’t really care what idol it is, as long as it makes you neglect or reject your own personal relationship with Jesus. To give all our time, talent and treasure over to idols is quiet dangerous and could leave us cut off from eternal rest in the Lord.

…how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? Hebrews 2:3

There is a classic spiritual warfare book, The Spiritual Combat, written hundreds of years ago. St. Francis de Sales called it “the golden book.” He also carried it with him and constantly read from it. Why would a saint do that?

Rely on the mighty LORD; constantly seek his face. 1 Chronicles 16:11

The first two chapters of this classic book, and maybe the most important ones, say to distrust in yourself and keep your confidence in God.

For the LORD will be your confidence, and will keep your foot from the snare. Proverbs 3:26