Resist

Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your brothers in the world. - 1 Peter 5:9

S.E.R.E. is an acronym for Survival-Escape-Resistance-Evasion training that must be completed by each and every U. S. Air Force pilot and I had the "privilege" of experiencing it almost 50 years ago as a cadet at the U.S. Air Force Academy. Then in 2008, at Field Personnel Orientation for the International Mission Board, I )along with my wife and many others) went through a brief session on "contingency" training that also contained some aspects of what I encountered at S.E.R.E. Both trainings were designed to prepare the participants for the possibility of capture and imprisonment by hostile forces during "battle."

As with those who find themselves in very real situations like those hinted at above, a key to survival is resistance. Resisting the enemy as a prisoner of war is difficult and sometimes painful, but in it, one achieves victory. In the same way, every follower of Christ must learn to resist our spiritual enemy. The Scriptures assume the innate power of a Christ-follower to resist, but we must also take the initiative (in the power of the Spirit) by remaining firm in our biblical faith.

Resist.

A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. - C. S. Lewis