Who battles for our souls?

 A battle is to engage in combat between individuals or armed forces. There are many different battles such as air battles, sea battles and land battles and we can also face internal battles which are full of deep sadness, temptation, doubt, or fear. Other battles we may encounter are battling with our health, finances, work, relationships even battling spiritually.

No matter what battle we face, we all must learn to protect and guard our souls. Recently, I started watching a documentary Live To 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones on Netflix and one of the women who were interviewed was asked what was the secret to living to 100? She said the secret was to never be angry, always try and forgive and be happy. So simple but also very true. When we are so angry, we want to battle, and fight. But being angry, and resentful is not healthy. We can tame our anger by knowing what pushes our anger buttons, and we can understand the warning signs so we can stop and think before we lash out and become rageful.

Let’s pause and say this prayer together.

‘Help me lord to forgive my neighbor for the hurt they do. Teach me to be kind, merciful, slow to anger and rich in compassion. Amen.’

So, who battles for our souls?

Jesus Christ of course is the one who battles for our souls, he is our salvation, his death on the cross was the ultimate sacrifice and we are reminded of that in Isaiah 53:5, ‘Yet, he was pierced through our faults, crushed for our sins, on him lies a punishment that brings us peace, and through his wounds, we are healed’   We are asked to be strong, stand firm for the Lord will do the fighting for us. There is no need for us to go to battle, to be angry and react. We only need to keep still, while he battles for us. Right now, a part of me is grateful for a load has been lifted off my shoulders and I no longer carry so much anger and frustration. He carries it for me. Do I feel guilty? Yes, but time and time again we are asked and told to hand it over to God for he will make our burdens lighter.

A month ago, my son was so terribly upset he didn’t want to go to school because he was afraid of getting angry and he didn’t know how to control that anger and he wanted to know how he could stop himself before he hurt someone. At first, I was taken back because I didn’t realize how he was truly feeling and all I could do was hold him and reassure him that we all get angry and when we get angry, we need to make a choice to either walk away, take deep breaths and calm down or we stay and say things that we are going to regret and we hurt people physically, mentally, and psychologically.

So, here is a little reminder for parents, never drive your children to resentment but in bringing them up, correct them and guide them as the Lord does Ephesians 6:4. As I have said before, being a mother is hard work but I believe being empathetic and understanding is what children need and that is what my son needed to hear from me because we all get angry, we are human beings, we are not perfect but we need to learn to stop and think before it’s too late and resentment grows.

May God Bless Always, Faith, Hope and Love by My Mother Rose.

Written and created by Katie Robinson