Slay The Giants Within You: How To Defeat Spiritual Laziness
Slay the giants within and defeat spiritual laziness. Be mindful and aware. Arm your mind daily with the Power of God.
“I caught him by his beard, and I smote him.”
These words convinced Saul that David was a force to be reckoned with.
But the final argument that swayed Saul were the humble yet powerful words: “The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
Who could doubt the power of God when delivered with such force?
Who could doubt that David could indeed slay giants?
And then he went on to prove he could do it. Armed with the weapons the Lord taught him to use, not the heavy armor with which Saul tried to weigh him down.
Slay the Giants Within You
What are your lions and bears and giants?
Is trust in the Lord your weapon? Your strong tower?
“
When David faced Goliath,
he didn’t talk about how dangerous Goliath was;
he talked about how great God is.
“
Joyce Meyer
Because that is our ultimate and only surefire weapon against the giants in our lives.
We know David went on to do some pretty unheroic stuff. Bathsheba was a giant he totally couldn’t slay. His sinful thoughts took over and his power was gone. The giant of his mind stole his victory.
How can we shield our minds? Arm our hearts?
Because we don’t need more stress in our lives. The struggle of surviving daily life is enough battle for anyone. We don’t need the complications of unguarded minds. Minds that become too weak to slay giants.
Put simply, when David leaned on the Lord, he won his battles.
Spiritual Laziness
When he lolled in his bed letting his army go out to fight his battles for him, he fell prey to the enemy of his empty mind. Empty as in not filled with the energy and power of the Lord. He’d allowed himself to believe in his own press. The masses celebrated his victories, and it seems he began to think he was invincible. Did he forget to give God the glory? Had he set his harp and his praises aside, listening instead to the evil that minds turn to when they’re not properly armored with the Truth?
Such a waste of great opportunity. David’s youthful force squandered in midlife crisis.
We won’t go there. But it is something to think about.
How to defeat spiritual laziness.
I think this scripture became a mind worm for me today because I needed to think about this squandering.
I need to remember the Force that powered my youth, and how I’ve lost some of that energy I put into all aspects of Christian living. It becomes too easy to lean on knowledge, on past accomplishments, and make excuses. It’s easy to think my life is too complicated for random acts of kindness and following Christlike impulses. The Christlike impulses that caused me to wake up in the morning fired with ambition. To make a meal for someone going through a hard time. To send someone who suffered a loss a sympathy card. Or to make a point to tell someone what I appreciated about them.
I think it’s time for me to catch that enemy by the beard and smite it.
No excuses. No lolling.
Today is the day to be armed with the Lord’s weapons.
Today I go into battle to slay giants.
No more spiritual laziness that leads to literal laziness.
My action today, and I’m writing this down for the masses:
I will give Kim all the time she needs this morning, instead of grudgingly committing one hour (or less). She often reminds me, “Mom, I’m only here for a few hours every day. You need to… (fill in the blank) …while I’m here.” (She’s not afraid to lay on the guilt. Probably necessary to stir my hard heart!)
The blank today is sewing the dresses we cut the other day, because she wants to fill her closet before she moves, if she moves, to Rainbow Acres.
What is your action plan to slay the giants today?
Let’s pray for each other in this battle against spiritual laziness.
