Torch, Fall 1996

Victorious Christian Living by Doug Phillips Spiritual victory- it's a theme that sounds exciting and attractive to us. Or at least that's usually the case. Ironically though, the notion of spiritual victory can actually discourage and cause some Christians to quietly shrink back. I was reminded of this one Wednesday evening as I was teaching in the mid– week Bible study. My theme was spiritual victory as we live "supematuralized" lives in the power of the Holy Spirit. I spoke of how the Spirit empowers and enables us for sanctification (holiness) and for service (fruitfulness). In character and conduct we thus become more and more like Christ, and in our stewardship and service we become more fruitful and effective. We went to New Testament passages that speak of such changes (e.g., Romans 6:11-22; Galatians 5:16-26; Ephesians 4:25-32) . Then we sought to apply these truths by discussing what kind of change and transformation we should expect to see in our own lives, i.e., what spiritual victory would look like today. It seemed like the Bible study together had gone rather well, but afterward one of our missionaries who was home on furlough came to me to probe a little deeper. She had faced some especially difficult situations during her previous term of service in Africa- difficulties with her fellow workers and with nationals. And they weren't the kind of problems that lasted only a few days or a few weeks. These struggles persisted throughout most of her term. She prayed for God to help her be cheerful and patient even as she served in situations where she really wasn't being treated well by others and where she lacked some very basic supplies for doing a good job. She candidly admitted that there were many times when she was not cheerful and not patient, though she continued to work hard and to serve consistently. So what should