Thought of the day
It's remarkable how quickly an ordinary conversation can turn into a fight. You start talking about something small, (a chore, a schedule, a comment someone made), and ten minutes later you're relitigating things that happened years ago. Nobody quite knows how you got there. A disagreement with your spouse becomes a fight. A difference of opinion at work becomes a fight. Even fights start at church over things that won't matter in five years.
And when you're hurt, frustrated, or scared, it's easy to look at the person across from you and think, "you are the problem." Paul says something that should reshape that instinct completely: "Our struggle is not against flesh and blood" (Ephesians 6:12).
That means your spouse is not your enemy. Your teenager is not your enemy. Your coworker, the person who votes differently than you, the person who's far from God right now, none of them are your enemy. There is a real enemy, but it isn't the person sitting across the table.
This matters because if the enemy can keep you fighting against people, he can keep you from fighting for them. Every ounce of energy spent treating a person like the problem is energy not spent loving them toward Jesus.
This doesn't mean conflict disappears or that every disagreement is secretly spiritual warfare. People still frustrate you. Boundaries still matter. But it changes where you aim your energy. Instead of asking, "how do I win this argument with my spouse," you can ask, "what's actually going on underneath this, and how do I move toward this person instead of against them?"
Today, think of one relationship where you've slipped into treating a person like your enemy. Ask God to help you see them the way He does: not the opponent, but someone He loves.