The Christian life is not a playground but a battleground. Every day, every hour, every minute we are under attack. We are fighting a real war against an invisible foe who employs highly organized strategies, tactics, and battle plans. If we do not understand these facts, we will lose the battle.

Our Strategy

In order to win the battle, Peter says we need to be sober, be alert, and resist. To be sober—or “serious”—is to be self-controlled, which means letting Christ control us instead of ourselves. To be “alert” is to be on guard and watchful. And to “resist” means being willing to fight. Once Christ is in control of our life and we are alert to Satan’s tactics, then we can resist him.

Notice that Peter doesn’t say to resist temptation but to resist Satan, the one doing the tempting. The failure to understand and employ this strategy is where many believers stumble and fall. We can only resist Satan by the power and presence of Jesus Christ.

Bottom Line

We don’t need to be clever or strong to win each day’s battle, but we do need Jesus.