On the Battlefield for My Lord – Part III
I got your back...
Part III: The Brotherhood (part a)
The last few weeks of Bible Study have been great and one of the reasons is that the guys are growing together and are truly becoming a brotherhood. When I started writing about being a Warrior of the Lord three weeks ago I intended to write about this particular topic. I got a little sidetracked but I feel Parts I and II were a necessary starting point for a discussion on being a Warrior.
In Part I we discussed how a warrior of the Lord does not rely on his own strength. The need for God is clear, but what is often ignored is the need for other people. Some might even make fun of a man who admits that he needs other people. Our modern American culture tells us that, “The only thing a real man needs is himself!”, but this is far from the biblical model for how we should live our lives. In the book of Genesis the Lord says of his newly created man, “It is not good that the man should be alone”, and so he created woman. While this was good, men need more than a woman by their side.
Men need someone who can understand the deepest core of their being and offer encouragement that can only come from another man. Men innately understand the weaknesses and struggles of other men and are uniquely qualified to come alongside us and help us through our struggles. This brings me to an important point. Warriors need to stand shoulder to shoulder in solidarity against their enemies and watch each others backs to guard from a surprise attack. As Warriors for the Lord, we need to be like the Spartans at Thermopylae, standing shoulder to shoulder, shields overlapped, or like the soldiers pictured above, covering each others backs.
This can be accomplished in a number of ways. First, we can stand shoulder to shoulder in the fight by praying for, encouraging, and building up one another. When our brothers are struggling, we must come alongside them and help them through their struggles. When we see our brother down, we must pick them up and help them continue the fight. Secondly, we can hold each other accountable. Accountability is very important. Ask each other the hard questions and be willing to hear the answers. This is something that will be discussed in more detail later but its important to think about. Do you have someone that you can trust enough to open up to them about your struggles? I would encourage you all to find someone to meet with regularly to discuss the things that you struggle with and that cause you to stumble.
By standing shoulder to shoulder and watching each others backs as brothers, we can help prevent stumbling, and even if someone stumbles, we will be able to build them back up again.
