1 Peter 5:8 Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
Although we know that He who is in us is stronger than he who is in the world, we still have to work at being the people whom God want us to be. The reason for this is plainly stated several times throughout the New Testament. I’ve paraphrased some of these reasons.
1. Stay alert because Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. (Luke 22:31)
2. Persevere because as we grow together and prepare to produce a harvest, there will be tares among the wheat. (Matt 13:38-39)
3. Be on your guard and do not let your hearts be weighed down with the worries of this life as the day closes in on us. (Luke 21:34)
4. Stay alert and pray that you may have strength to escape all of the things that must happen, so that you may stand before Jesus victorious. (Luke 21:36)
5. Put aside sin and live as in the daytime, ridding yourselves of the acts performed in darkness and instead arming your bodies with the weapons of light for complete glory is nearer now than when we first believed. (Romans 13:11-13)
6. Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may stand against the schemes of the Devil. (Eph. 6:11)
7. Do not comply with the desires of the flesh you complied with before you were saved, but be like Jesus. It is written, “you shall be holy because I am holy.”
I’ll stop at seven to resemble perfection (just kidding, lol). There are many more exhortations throughout the scriptures for us as God’s children to strive for holiness. Notice all of the action verbs in the seven examples I gave you; stay alert, persevere, be on guard, put aside, clothe yourselves. We have to work at it. It’s not works to earn God’s favor, but simply practicing the faith that God has given us. Practicing our faith is like learning to swim. God has taught us how to swim by faith through the troubles and toils of this world (see above 1-7). But if we do not practice our faith by moving our arms and legs in the manner which He taught us to stay afloat, then we will only bobble up and down a couple of times and then sink into the dark depths. So keep paddling! Soon we will reach that celestial shore!
