January 27, 2026

Who Is My Enemy

Ephesians 6:12 – “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

The couple sits in the counselor’s office, positioned on opposite ends of the couch like opposing armies across a battlefield. Each views the other as the enemy—the source of pain, frustration, and unhappiness. Their words are weapons, their silences are strategies, their home a war zone. But while they focus all their fire on each other, the real enemy watches from the shadows, delighted that they’ve mistaken each other for the threat.

Paul understood what many believers forget: we fight the wrong battles when we mistake flesh and blood for our true adversary. The coworker who undermines us, the family member who wounds us, the neighbor who opposes us—these are not our enemies. They may be the instruments, but they are not the source.

Throughout Scripture, this truth emerges repeatedly. When Peter tried to prevent Jesus from going to the cross, Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter as the enemy but addressed the spiritual force working through him: “Get behind me, Satan!” When Job’s life collapsed, his wife and friends became voices of discouragement, but Job recognized that his struggle was with something beyond them.

This misidentification of our enemy has devastating consequences. We exhaust ourselves fighting people when we should be fighting powers. We deploy our weapons against the wrong target—using anger, manipulation, and retaliation against human beings when our real battle requires prayer, truth, and spiritual authority.

When we finally recognize our true enemy, everything changes. The difficult person becomes someone who also needs liberation from the same dark forces that attack us. Our anger transforms into compassion. Our weapons shift from worldly to spiritual. And we discover that the person we thought was our enemy might actually be fighting the same battle we are.

Today’s Prayer: Father, help me recognize my true enemy and stop fighting the wrong battles. Amen.

Reflection Question: Who have you been treating as an enemy when the real battle is spiritual?