The Bible calls victors those who believe in Christ, those who buy from the Faithful Witness what He advises, and then let Jesus into their lives and have a relationship with Him. These are people who during the final trials rely on God's Word and have personal relationships with the Savior. These are those who have clothed themselves in God's full armor and firmly hold it in their right and left hands, skillfully wielding it. These are those who keep all of God's commandments, including the commandment of love, and treasure them in their heart, having the mind of Christ. These are Christians who will survive baptism with the Holy Spirit and receive God's seal.
Victory is not simply given to me by my desire, and it will not be something unexpected for me at the end of time, but I will enter it through constant study of God's will, accepting all of God's light, obeying truth in my practical life, and continuously demonstrating unconditional love in all daily life situations.
Great victories are not accomplished by my troops or my strength, but by the power of the Holy Spirit living in me and protecting me. But at the same time, I directly determine through my choice how to wage war and whose power to call upon to gain the upper hand.
Jesus gave us an example of complete victory over the power and strength of sin by allowing Himself to be crucified in our place and not displaying a spirit of revenge, anger, or self-will.
In my life, there have been many moments when, knowing what the response to another trial should be, I acted as if I knew nothing. It turns out that I stepped on another rake, thinking it would not react to contact with my feet. Then sharp pain would appear, and I would realize that I had done something wrong again. Strangely enough, if many of us were asked to share our life experience, we would start recalling all our "rakes" and how we humbled ourselves afterward and radically changed something in our lives.
I also understood that it is difficult to become a victor during a trial when you must make the right decision but do not know which one will be best in the end. At such a moment, you need to have an appropriate Divine promise, but it does not immediately come to mind, and you are forced to take a step blindly, not knowing if there will be more "rakes" ahead.
The helmet of salvation and shield of faith are given to me not to withstand blows from garden tools and boldly step on them, but to keep my mind pure in thoughts, according to the received light and the presence of God's power in me.
Receiving another blow of fate or experiencing a fall, and understanding that you have fallen, it is worth thinking about the cause of what happened and deciding how you could have acted differently and correctly. A deep analysis of my losses will not eliminate the consequences of my failures, but it will help me see the cause-and-effect relationship and draw appropriate conclusions to then open paths to victory.
Love always finds the best way and tunes my heart to a behavior model defined for it. But in life, there are many situations that I experience for the first time and cannot immediately orient myself to what the correct reaction would be. There are spontaneous trials when someone in a public place steps painfully on your foot or rudely responds to your carelessness, and you need to react somehow. But there are also systematic events, such as when an unbearable work colleague constantly nitpicks at you and deliberately ridicules all your actions, making your life extremely interesting. And there could be thousands of such situations. For someone, perhaps, their own home is the most fierce battlefield, a sea of tears and disappointments.
And the Lord desires to see us as victors and gives His light for all life situations. He has certain laws, rules, and counsels, obedience to which guarantees us protection and happiness.
If in the family we love each other and do not quarrel, this does not guarantee that we will also win and stand firm in other areas of life, although the experience of our mutual love shows us the right path to victory.
My prayers, Bible study, and spiritual writings, listening to sermons and spiritual music give God the opportunity to pour His light into my life and teach me to distinguish good from evil, and the trials He allows teach me to apply the knowledge gained in practice. I cannot hide anywhere from the enemy of my soul and my carnal nature. They will always put me in a difficult position and offer their services in complex situations.
Planning victory is a rather wise approach to the best outcome of events.
Let's give an example. A work colleague decided to bother me with his nitpicking and mockery. I tried to put him in his place, and the matter nearly came to a fight. Analyzing my behavior, I understood that I had turned to another power that led me into sin and worsened the situation. My conscience condemns me; the law calls me a hypocrite. What should I do to emerge victorious? Apparently, my colleague is not going to change and is decisively set to always attack me. Changing jobs is not a victory in my heart. Going to complain to management is also not a solution. Thinking about revenge is a loss. I begin to seriously pray and ask for wisdom in this matter. I read that God will not allow temptation beyond my strength. I believe this. I decide to love this enemy and pray for him. And the colleague continues to attack unrelentingly. I understand that I will not last long and begin to pray more about this situation and seek greater wisdom. I ask friends for advice, remember God's promises, and ask for God's intervention. I take up fasting and prayer. As a result, I compose a plan of action and write it down on paper if possible to remember it better. I decide to love, not respond rudely to rudeness, be silent when necessary, or speak with respect. I plan to apologize for my past rudeness and promise not to insult him again, and if the pressure continues, I tune myself to quiet prayer for help for me and blessing for this person. Having such a plan, I ask for God's approval and decide to follow this course and analyze in prayer how best to act if something goes wrong. It is difficult to understand how God will act and what He will want to teach me, but by choosing God's path, I will never lose.
Those who deviate from God's path, choosing a carnal solution to the issue, will never win. Those who remain in truth will never lose. The main thing is participation in alliance with God and in the spirit of love.
People looked at the naked, beaten, crucified, and dead Christ as a loser, but He precisely won the most outstanding and complete victory that will continue to surprise and delight us for all Eternity. The Cross showed and revealed to the entire Universe the true Divine character and the genuine face of sin. Life and death met in this confrontation, and death was defeated by the victory of unconditional Love.
Mistakes teach, but vices kill. In Christ's school, we can fall and make mistakes, and the Lord is able to raise us and teach us. But woe to me if I allow sin to solve my tasks by its methods.
Reflection Questions for this Chapter
1. Please read 1 John 5:4-5; Jeremiah 29:11-14; Isaiah 44:26; Revelation 3:18-21; Proverbs 15:22; 16:3; 22:3; Job 5:10-13; 21:31; 22:27-28; 33:14-19; 1 Corinthians 4:5; 2 Corinthians 1:17-22; Hebrews 4:10-12; Romans 12:21; Revelation 21:7; Isaiah 52:13-15; 53:1-12 in light of this chapter.
2. What other Bible verses came to your mind?
3. What did you understand from this chapter?
4. Who is a victor in our time? What do they defeat?
5. What is victory for?
6. What is the advantage of someone who analyzes their mistakes and falls to avoid repeating them?
7. Is it important to understand whom God considers and calls victors?
8. Have you counted how many times victors are mentioned in the Book of Revelation, from chapter two to three?
9. How did Jesus win? Can this be called a victory?
10. Can victories be won without fighting?
11. Have you tried planning your victory?
12. What is the advantage of a plan over the lack of one?
13. At what moment does love become a victor?
14. Is it important that my victory plans correspond to God's will?
15. Can anyone win without a plan? Is this plan necessary at all?