Well, since superheroes seems to be the theme of our contamination topic, why not? As you can see from the above clip, Ironman is preparing himself for “battle”. Today I want to close our contamination talk with two thoughts:
- How we can fight contaminates, and
- Gearing up to fight them.
We’ve already talked about the types of contaminates; physical, emotion, and spiritual. Then we covered how we are exposed to contaminates; through Facebook, the internet, etc., followed by what contaminates do to us.
You might be asking: “So, how do you ‘gear up’ for fighting contaminates?”. Well, it’s not as tricky as we see with Ironman, but on the other hand it isn’t necessarily easy. We can find our answer in Ephesians 6:11: “Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes [contaminates]….”
Well, the “schemes” the Devil throws at us can better be summed up as contaminates. They are all around us in our world. This armor mentioned in Ephesians is spiritual armor—guarding our spirit man against contaminates. A few pieces are the Breastplate of Righteousness, the Shield of Faith….you get the point.
So, how do we “gear up” physically? I’m not asking you to dress up like a bright and happy Darth Vader, or get a suit like Ironman (I don’t think Marvel would loan it out…). First, there are ways we can fight contaminates. We don’t battle with flesh and blood, remember, but with principalities of darkness.
- Examine your life and what’s in it. What makes up your life? Is it “righteous” stuff like prayer, Bible meditation, worship? Or is it pornography, swearing, witchcraft, or addiction? If there isn’t anything you’d be willing to share with Christ, get rid of it.
- Remove yourself from “sticky” situations. Don’t put yourself in a position where you’d have to compromise your faith. Watch out for scenarios that would potentially harm you—“off limit” zones. If you have to go into one of these zones, make sure you armor up.
- Don’t compromise. Stand up for what’s right and what’s Biblical. The number one way contaminates can get through to us is a compromised immune system.
There are other ways to fight contaminates, like reading the Word, praying regularly, going to church, etc. We also fight contaminates by how we think, act, speak, and work. Everything we do should attest to our Creator and glorify Him (1 Corinthians 10:11). By simply flipping past that R-rated movie or refusing that alcohol, or even biting your tongue when it wants to swear are fighting contaminates—sometimes it isn’t always WWIII. Also, if we confess our sins and ask God to help us overcome our sinful ways and desires, we fight contaminates (1 John 1:9).
Now the big question comes up—how do we “gear up” to fight these contaminates? Starting with the spiritual armor mentioned in Ephesians 6 isn’t a bad start—that protects our spirit man from contaminates. You might be asking: “How can I physically gear up to fight contaminates?”
- What are you setting before your eyes and ears? Are they things which glorify God and edify the spirit? Or are they things that attract and carry contaminates? Guarding what we watch on TV, listen to on the radio, reading in books, and listening to at school and church are ways to “gear up” to fight contaminates. Be on the lookout—find out what scripture says about watching what we do (Matthew 6:22, Psalm 101:3). Make sure you have a face-guard on with small eye-slots, and be ever careful to scan your territory.
- How is your thought-life? Is your thought life a landing pad for contaminates—thinking bad of others or yourself, judging others, filled with sexual immorality, confusions? Or is it a godly thought life—loving others despite their shortcomings, scripture memorization, encouraging words? Our thoughts control our actions, and our actions can either fight contaminates around us or welcome them. Make sure to wear a ‘helmet of salvation’—remember who your Savior is and what He would think.
- How is your heart? The heart is one of the major organs that soldiers look for in battle—and it can be one of the most vulnerable, if left unguarded. How is yours? Is it protected with scripture, filled with love, and careful to discern? Or is it filled with “Oh I hate this!”, or with the newest “Fifty Shades of Grey”? Make sure you have on a breastplate—contaminates like to take root in the heart and make its way through the bloodstream into the other organs and extremities.
Gearing up to fight contaminates isn’t actually donning armor and grabbing the nearest Mark IV, no way (who could afford it except Tony Stark?). It’s being especially careful to use what goes into our bodies for the Kingdom—and not the Contaminator. It’s making smart choices about what we watch, say, listen to, participate in. You can touch chemicals with or without gloves and the reaction is different. For every action there is a reaction.
So, with these six ways to fight and gear up against contaminates, our talk on contamination comes to a close. Hopefully you’ve learned something about this area, and that you’ve realized some areas in your life that are a “toxic waste dump”. Perhaps it’s time to “don” our bio-hazard suits and start some clean up?
