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Know Your Enemies

            For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. (I John 2:16)

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:12)

But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love. (I Corinthians 13:13)

I don’t know if the past few days have helped you set any goals for next year, but what came to mind today is that along with setting goals, we need to consider where we are and keep in mind what is likely to get in the way of reaching them.

One tool to help with that is what’s called a SWOT (not SWAT) Analysis:

·                     Strengths: characteristics you have that give it an advantage in reaching the goal.

·                     Weaknesses: characteristics you have that give you a disadvantage in reaching the goal.

·                     Opportunities: elements in the environment you could exploit to its advantage.

·                     Threats: elements in the environment that could cause trouble for you in reaching your goal.

Doing a SWOT analysis will help you prepare to go after your goals. Considering the passages above provides additional areas for consideration. First, is the goal based on lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, or a boastful pride of life? If not, are there lusts of the flesh or eyes or boastful pride of life that are likely to get in the way? How can faith, hope, or love help you reach the goal? Does the goal involve growing in faith, hope, or love?

And, finally, one of the first principles of battle is to know your enemies. With what rulers, powers, world forces, and spiritual forces might you have to do battle? Similarly, you should know your friends. To what rulers, powers, world forces and spiritual forces can you turn for help?

I know this sounds like a lot of work – and it’s work that I need to do, too. But giving  your self, your situation, and your goals serious thought will help you reach them.

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