This week’s question from our portal “Ask Us Anything” comes from Sean.
I’ve been reading “God Works Through Faith” and there’s a part about putting on the whole armor of God to deal with overcoming challenges. It says you must give your whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. Can you give me a better understanding of what that looks like practically? I’ve been facing worry a lot lately and seeing things through that lens. I’m trying to protect my mind.
I think it has to do with the intention behind what you’re doing. Christians talk about it from the perspective of “we do everything for God’s glory”:
You’re here to fulfill a purpose. Everything within you needs to be directed toward that purpose – you need to be all in. Everything needs to be all in.
It’s like the old idea of a divided mind can’t stand, a house divided can’t stand. Everything needs to be directed toward the outcome you want.
What they mean by that armor is the truth of God – the promise of God to God’s people. Everything is here. You deserve the best in life. You’re here to fulfill a purpose. Whatever it is that you determine in life will be the result that you get, good or bad, because your greatest power is your ability to choose.
Taking charge of your ability to choose actively, being aware of it.
Putting on the whole armor of God also means that when something goes wrong, you’re going to use your power to choose to also see why this is something good, why this is something right. Remember, from the premise from which we view the world, everything is a lesson, not a punishment.
A creator space also means that you hold other people accountable for their responsibility. Ultimately you’re responsible – it’s your business – but you have to be able to hold the team responsible for what they’re responsible for.
Guilt isn’t selective in its targets. It’ll hit everything in your life if you’re feeling it. Guilt is essentially somebody stabbing at your core wounds – basically telling you that you’re bad, that there’s something wrong with you because of what you did.
Letting go of that – whatever happened, it just is. It doesn’t mean you’re bad. It never means you’re bad. Only you can make that interpretation.
