20260311 Spiritual Warfare Understanding the Enemy Ephesians 6.10-20 Wednesday Bible Study Tim Dickmann

So we're going to be looking in Ephesians chapter

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

6, so if you want to turn there That's where

we will be So Ephesians chapter 6 and we will

Ephesians 6 · chapter mention

begin in verse 10 and we'll read this section

here. Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the

strength of his might. Put on the full armor

of God so that you will be able to stand firm

against the schemes of the devil. 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.

Is that too loud? How's that, is that better?

Okay, so just before the white one. Therefore

take up the full armor of God so that you'll

be able to resist in the evil day. And having

done everything to stand firm, stand firm therefore,

having girded your loins with truth. and having

put on the breastplate of righteousness, and

having shod your feet with the preparation of

the gospel of peace. In addition to all, in addition

to all, taking up the shield of faith, which

you will be able to extinguish all the flaming

arrows of the evil one, and take the helmet of

salvation and the sword of the spirit, which

is the word of God. With all prayer and petition,

pray at all times in the spirit. and with this

in view be on the alert with all perseverance

and petition for all the saints. And pray on

my behalf that utterance may be given to me in

the opening of my mouth to make known with boldness

the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an

ambassador in chains, that in proclaiming it

I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. Okay,

is it on Okay Okay, sound check that felt sound

pretty good sound pretty good. All right, all

right, okay So Hopefully you were able to listen

there while we had those issues but This is a

probably a familiar passage to us all and it

deals with What we would say the armor of God

But before we really deal with that, I think

there's some other things that we need to talk

about here and I think Obviously Paul addresses

them here so What is the purpose of this armor

that he goes on to talk about what's it for?

Okay to stand against the wiles of the devil

that's what he says right and then he goes on

there and he describes what? Right after that

there Okay a spiritual battle right he's talking

about these forces So, for us to engage in this

battle, what is necessary? We must know the enemy,

right? That's what Paul's telling us. We're to

put on the armor for a purpose, to withstand

the wiles or the schemes of the devil. And there's

a battle that's being engaged in here with spiritual

forces, right? That's what he says there. So...

I think it is imperative for us to understand

and to lay hold of, as best we can here, the

fact of this spiritual warfare. It isn't a question

of whether there will be a warfare or whether

the Christian is in some sort of battle here,

right? I mean, Paul just says this is the case.

This is the reality. Okay, it's an unseen reality,

right? That's a spiritual warfare. It's a spiritual

battle. This armor that we're to take on, is

it a physical armor? No, he talks about the shield

of faith, right? Belt of truth, these things.

This is not a physical piece of armor that we're

gonna put on our bodies, but it's a spiritual

armor. And so it's a spiritual battle. So it's

essential that we understand that we are engaged

in a spiritual warfare and that our struggle

is not against flesh and blood. So Paul makes

it real clear, right? He says flesh and blood.

What's he mean by that? Human, right? Humanly

speaking. He's not speaking there of flesh as

he speaks of flesh in Romans and things like

that and these other passages, but he's speaking

flesh and blood. So it's not a physical battle.

It is a spiritual battle. What does it look like?

So what do we mean by a spiritual battle or a

spiritual enemy? And what does that look like?

When we talk about the unseen realm, when we

talk about these unseen forces, when we talk

about a spiritual warfare or a spiritual battle,

What do we think about? What does that look like

in our lives? When we're walking through this

world or, you know, in the morning we're reading

our Bible and we're talking about some spiritual

battle. What comes to our minds? What are some

things that we think about? Anybody? Okay, warring

against sin. Okay, distractions. from our our

goal there in the morning or whatever when we're

reading but how is that so that okay that's good

that's fine Okay, so a guarding of our minds

are focusing our attention upon the Lord at those

times and not being distracted Okay, good. That's

good anything else How so okay okay I think that's

good I think that's a good I don't know that

I would say that that's I mean I guess it is

spiritual in a sense for sure okay so that's

good I mean it's definitely a good thought right

I mean that's our that's our daily life are we

going to choose This over this am I going to

choose the flash over the spirit things like

that so good anything else What else what else

comes to mind? In the mind okay, yes, I would

say absolutely What are what are those things?

What are some of those things that that are?

spiritual warfare Okay wrong thinking such as

Okay Okay, so we could what are some things that

we could say there specifically we could say

Temptations right we could we could just say

any temptation to Think incorrectly so we could

talk about doubts right doubting God Doubting

his word Doubting who he is That's a spiritual

warfare. That's a spiritual battle that we have

to engage in so temptation Doubts what else we

could talk about fears. They're about living

a life of fear We could talk about anxiety We

could talk about depression We could talk about

discouragement. Okay, those are a few things

that I wrote down here that are Things that we

have to engage in on a spiritual level So we

have to guard our minds we have to keep ourselves

from thinking in a in an unbiblical way So a

spiritual battle One thing that I I think is

helpful to think about here and we'll deal with

it probably more later on but Who's read spiritual

depression by Louis Jones anybody Okay, it's

great book right just talks about this spiritual

warfare quite a bit and One of the things that

he talks about there is Anything that would cause

us to take our eyes off of Christ. He talks about

Peter there walking on the water. And what was

Peter's problem? He takes this great leap of

faith, right? And he says, Lord, tell me to come

to you. And he says, come on out. So he gets

on the water and what happens? He takes his eyes

off of Christ. He begins to look at the waves

and it begins to sink. He begins to fear, okay?

So we can talk about this spiritual warfare,

this spiritual battle. We can talk about anything

that would cause us to take our eyes off of Christ

and to doubt or to fear or any of those such

things. So a spiritual battle, a spiritual warfare

that we are engaged in. It's important that we

understand that that is the case. What is another

thing that Paul seems to point out here with

with regard to this battle and who we're warring

against. What is a characteristic of this warfare

or this one that we're warring against I should

say? Anything stand out to anybody there about

who it is? Well what's he say about those things?

What's the description that he gives them? If

we could just, again, if you're not thinking

along the same lines as me, it's gonna be hard.

But I'm thinking, he seems to, he's telling us

here that it's powerful. Do you see that? That

these aren't just some weak, measly little things

that we're dealing with here. But what does he

say? He says, well, I mean, first of all, he

says, in order to do this, we've got to be strong

in the Lord. so that that implies this is going

to require some strength and so what we're fighting

against must be strong right um in the strength

of his might or if you have the king james the

power is it power of his might okay so again

that's what's required that's what's needed in

this warfare some powerful things are needed

here and then he goes on and he talks about the

schemes of the devil which we'll deal with a

little bit in a little bit here but then he says

rulers against powers, forces of darkness. Again,

that seems to be, what? A pretty admirable, what's

the word? Formidable foe. That's what we're dealing

with here. We're not just dealing with some weak,

creaturely. thing here but we're dealing with

a powerful force some powerful forces okay some

some real strong beings spiritual beings so rulers

powers forces of wickedness okay uh first peter

five eight anybody remember that passage how

is satan described there in first peter five

eight it's a roaring lion okay so that's again

That's seems to be telling us here that this

is a strong enemy The roaring line. It's not

a it's not just something to be easily dismissed,

right? I'm reminded of Daniel 10 13. I was thinking

about that here where he talks about the forces

of wickedness the powers of darkness and Daniel

10 13 there It's the story there of the angel

being opposed by the prince of Persia who's come

to give Daniel a message and he was hindered

and opposed by this force which seems to be a

spiritual or demonic force that was a hindrance

there and Michael had to come help him there

in order to deliver this message and so again

the idea there seems to be that there's a great

power there, a great force. And he calls him

the Prince of Persia. And so we see in that that,

again, the devil has power on this earth to control

men and to deal with nations in that way. So

we're not dealing with some small thing here,

but it's a serious powerful darkness. Jude 9.

I'll just read that because it's just easy. It's

easier to read it than to try to explain it without

reading it. So, Jude 9, but Michael, the archangel,

when he disputed with the devil and argued about

the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against

him a railing judgment, but said, the Lord rebuke

you. So here's Michael, the archangel, but again,

a powerful being, right? And he does not even

just... willy -nilly rebuke satan but he says

the lord rebuke you okay so it's a it's a powerful

force a powerful enemy that we are to withstand

that we are to war against it's not a small matter

it's not a small thing and it's not something

that we do on our own all right we're going to

deal with that i think later on here but again

what is what do we do be strong in the lord and

in the power of his might Power of his mind.

So a powerful force is against us And we are

in need of the Lord's help one other verse here

second Corinthians 10 So Paul says second Corinthians

10 3 for though we walk in the flesh we do not

war according to the flesh For the weapons of

our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely

powerful for the destruction of forces We are

destroying speculations and every lofty thing

that raises up Against the knowledge of God and

we are taking every thought captive to the obedience

of Christ So again, we see their powerful forces

Destruction of fortresses bulwarks is another

way you could think of that fortresses That's

what we're coming against. That's what we're

warring against. Not just some small thing. A

formidable foe is who we are warring against.

So next, what does he say here? What is something

we should pick up? Not only is he powerful, these

demons, these forces, these spiritual beings,

but he says here that the scheme says the schemes

of the devil or the wiles of the devil. So not

only is this a powerful foe that we have to stand

against, but it's an intelligent, an intelligent

foe that we have to stand against. So wiling,

crafty, deceitful, trickery. Cunning all right,

that's that's what we're dealing with here if

you've ever Gone to war against someone so to

speak You don't want that guy to be real crafty

and cunning and deceitful right you want to see

what's coming at you You don't want him taking

the back door Sneaking around you want to see

you want to see what's coming on because you

like if I can see it I can take it But that's

not Satan Satan's not giving us the full frontal

attack. He's coming around the sides. Okay, it's

important for us to understand that. Have you

ever thought? I had this thought the other day.

Why? Why? Why is this really sinful? I mean,

is it really sinful? This thing I was thinking

about? And I was I was thinking, I mean, that's

right there. That's Satan. I know it's wrong.

this thing, this thought that I had. But the

back of my mind, I'm thinking, is it really?

That's a temptation. That's a thought of the

devil. That's the deceit of Satan. To take that

thing that I know full well is wrong, that I

shouldn't do, that I shouldn't think about, that

I shouldn't engage in, and all of a sudden question,

is it really wrong? Where does that come from?

The lies of the devil, right? He's not just coming

full on there, he's trying to deceive. He's trying

to fool. He's trying to get you to slip up in

this one thing. If you can accept that this is

okay, I mean it just snowballs from there. So,

he's deceitful. He's wise in that regard. In

being wicked and cunning. What else could we

say about Satan? I was thinking about this. How

about he's bold? Have you ever thought about

that? You ever think about the temptations of

Jesus? I mean, here's the Son of God and Satan

doesn't care a bit. I'm gonna come after him

here and I'm gonna try to tempt him. I mean,

that's bold to think that you could do that.

to think that you are so good and to think that

you have such power and such craftiness that

you're going to deceive even the Son of God.

I never thought about it like that, but that's

amazing. I mean, if we were to entertain someone

giving us some suggestion, right? Just, I mean,

just some off the wall thing. Somebody comes

up to you and says, hey, you know, Your brother

is blah blah blah blah or your wife is whatever

you would be Are you kidding me right now? Are

you really saying that to me as if I'm going

to believe you who are you? But yet that was

that's Satan Let me come against you. Let me

say this. Let me whisper that and he does it

to the Son of God even bold audacious Just worship

me if you just worship me you'll have it all

What a claim What if he's willing to do that

to the Son of God What was he not willing to

do to us? What temptation what thought is he

not willing to whisper in our ear? It's limitless

right anything anything that he can he will All

right Another example of just the wickedness

of the evil the power Luke 8 12 So that's the

story of the sower and In one of those see one

of where the seed is scattered there. It says

that the devil takes away the word So that they

will not believe Consider that so here you've

heard you've heard some good things. Maybe you've

heard some things on a Sunday morning Wednesday

night Maybe just some conversation with somebody.

You've heard some truth. What's the devil's goal?

Take that away. Let me distract you. Let me put

another thought into your mind. That preacher

really wasn't having your good in mind. He was

calling you out from the pulpit. Ignore all those

things. That was mean. He was wrong. Right? You

name it. Any suggestion. Any suggestion. Now,

again, that's not exactly what that passage is

talking about. They're taking the Word, but that

is true, nonetheless. The devil seeks to take

the Word that we hear, pervert it, ruin it, and

cause us to reject it. Ephesians 4, 27. We're

right here. I'll read it. and do not give the

devil an opportunity. So verse 26, be angry,

and yet do not sin, do not let the sun go down

on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity.

What do we see there? The devil's looking for

every opportunity to cause us to sin, to cause

us to stumble, and to cause our faith to be shipwrecked.

That's his goal. Who are we? We used to be his

and he wants us back. I never did read all of

Bunyan's other book. What is it? The Holy War

and the city of Mansoul. But I read the first

half of it or so and the whole goal he wanted

it back. He wants it back. He wants us back.

He wants every and so he's gonna seek every opportunity.

To draw us back to cause us to sin to sow those

seeds of doubt that we're really not Christians

We're really not the Lord's he really doesn't

love us. He really doesn't care for us and so

on Don't give him the opportunity Don't give

him any opportunity to cause us to sin Second

Timothy 226 This kind of goes along with that

I'll read it. 25. With gentleness correcting

those who are in opposition, if perhaps God may

grant them repentance leading to the knowledge

of the truth, and they may come to their senses

and escape from the snare of the devil, having

been held captive by him to do his will. So again,

just the whole idea there of who the devil is.

He has ensnared and captured men and desires

to keep them. And he desires us to fall into

sin and to live lives that are not pleasing to

the Lord. That's his goal. And then Revelation

2 10, again just speaks of, oh here I'll just

read it. of those powers on earth that would,

through the devil's leading, cause us harm. Revelation

2 10. John's here speaking to the churches. Do

not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold,

the devil is about to cast some of you into prison

so that you will be tested and you will have

tribulation for 10 days. Be faithful until death

and I will give you the crown of life. So again

just the idea there that Satan he is influential

in this world and his goal is to Shipwreck our

faith and he will use all means necessary whether

that's men or spiritual Spiritual things that

we've already mentioned So I'd like to read this

to you. So I got this from Thayer When I was

looking up some things So he says Satan This

is when he was giving a definition of the devil.

Thayer. Thayer's lexicon. Greek English lexicon.

Satan, the prince of demons, the author of evil,

persecuting good men, estranging mankind from

God and enticing them to sin and afflicting them

with diseases by means of demons who take possession

of their bodies at his bidding. The malignant

enemy of God, and the Messiah. So that was his

description of Satan. I think it's good. I think

it's something to think about there. All of those

things that Satan desires to do and to the ways

that he can do it. This is our enemy. This is

the one that we are warring against. Him and

his minions, all right? So if we are to engage

in this warfare, we must know who it is that

we're engaging. We must know that he's powerful.

We must... know his tactics. We must know a little

bit about him if we are going to engage. Now,

the other thing that Paul says here is we wrestle.

Verse 12. For our struggle is not against flesh

and blood or in the King James for we wrestle

not against flesh and blood Has anybody ever

wrestled? You ever wrestled your brothers Okay,

what's it require Okay, it requires strength

what else does it require Okay, some skill. If

you're gonna like really be wrestling like competing,

you gotta have some skill, right? Some technique.

You gotta have strength. What else you need?

Preparation. What? Preparation. Okay, some preparation.

What else? Stamina. Stamina. Some endurance.

Okay, that's a big one. If you think about wrestling.

I've wrestled some guys too in my day. and it's

like you can be the strongest guy in the world

and you start wrestling and I mean it's not long

you're like I am more out this is tough right

you can go hit the gym I go hit the gym all day

long but then I'm wrestling or I remember wrestling

some guy in high school just horsing around in

the pool I was about dead and I was stronger

than him and I was still about dead it requires

endurance It requires work. It requires strength

and skill. If we're going to wrestle against

these spiritual forces, that's what it's going

to take. It's going to take us enduring. Because

what? It's not a one -time thing. It's not just,

I was victorious today. Boy, the Lord helped

me today. I was strong. I resisted temptation,

those thoughts that came into my mind, I put

them out. Boy, it was a great day. I'm ready

for glory, right? No, you got tomorrow. You gotta

do it all over again. And when that same temptation

comes day after day after day, it becomes wearisome.

Lord, why? I've fought this all week and I've

been victorious. Can you not allow it anymore?

Sometimes the Lord says, yeah, we're done with

it. Sometimes not. You've got to press on. You've

got to trust Me more. You've got to rely upon

Me more. So, wrestling is difficult. It requires

endurance, stamina, strength. Again, it's not

our strength, right? We're going to talk about

that, but it's not our strength that we're relying

upon. What does Paul say? Whose strength is it?

It's the Lord's. Be strong in the Lord and in

the power of His might. All right, so we're wrestling

here. I think Brian said skill. That's something

to think about That is something to consider

skill or technique in our wrestling, okay? What

do we do when the temptation comes? What is our

what is our plan there? What are we gonna do?

Have you thought about that? Okay, let's just

say you know if you have some particular sin

that you struggle with What's the plan? What's

the plan when that thing rears its ugly head?

Maybe it's maybe it's fear Maybe it's some sort

of doubt Maybe it's a temptation Towards lust

or some other sin. What's the goal there? What's

the goal when that comes? What do we do? Is our

first thing to run to the Lord? What is it? Do

we have a plan? What's your technique in this

warfare, in this wrestling? Okay? You've got

to come up with something. Because if it's just

a matter of, well, I guess I'll deal with it

when it comes, yeah, you might be successful

at times. But you won't be successful consistently.

And it won't be nearly what it could be if we

don't have a plan as those things come. Whatever

that is if it's if it's prayer if it's reciting

some Bible verses if it's calling a friend Calling

your wife. I don't know what what all is is perfect

for you But you need to know you need to know

what's helpful What is it that helps you to resist

those things? How do you withstand the temptations?

How do you deal with fears? doubts anxieties

Anger frustration you name it whatever it is.

How do you deal with that? You've got to have

a plan. You've got to have a purpose. Again,

our enemy does, right? Satan has a plan. He has

his techniques. He's wily. He's crafty. What

is our plan? Do you have one? Okay All right,

so Any questions about that any thoughts any

questions about our adversary there Okay Okay

They might be jumping ahead there. I'm not sure

I could have missed it though No, I just mean

we're gonna Yeah, we might I yeah, but again,

I did think I was thinking tonight. I was like

well if we don't get any further We want to bring

that up right that's that's imperative so Remember

that who who who is Satan? Ultimately, he's a

defeated foe, right? Christ has conquered him.

He's conquered him on the cross. He has ascended

into heaven and has put all things under his

feet, okay? So, while he is powerful, and he

is a formidable foe, he is a defeated foe. And

the Lord has defeated him. And when we're strong

in the Lord and in the power of His might, we

are able to overcome, right? And so that is our

encouragement. That is a great encouragement.

No temptation hath overtaken you, but such as

is common to man. And what? With that temptation,

I'll provide a way of escape. So the Lord has

promised that. The Lord has defeated Satan. He

is a defeated foe. And when we are strong in

the Lord and in the power of His might, when

we are waging this warfare spiritually through

the power of the Spirit, we are able to overcome

this spiritual adversary, okay? So he is defeated

and we are able to overcome. That's part of our

warfare, right? That's part of winning the battle.

Again, having the proper mindset. Having the

knowledge, again, it's not just knowledge, but

it's faith that this is true. When we go on to

talk about the shield of faith, we've got to

believe that these things are true. If you don't

believe it's true, and you don't believe that

through the power of God, you're able to overcome,

and that Satan has been defeated, what hope is

there really, right? It's like what? Well, who

am I? Who am I to withstand this this adversary?

OK, so we've got to have a right view of that.

OK. Yeah, go ahead. So. Can we should we? And

how could we distinguish between the temptation

in the flesh? So if we're battling against our

flesh or the devil or his demons I don't know

that I have an answer for you there. I don't

know that it matters. What's our response for

either one? Yeah, I'm trying to think what would

be the difference How would I how if I knew that

this was just some fleshly appetite is that what

you mean some fleshly thing Versus the lies of

Satan How do I respond do I respond differently

So yeah, I don't know like I don't I don't know

that I have anything in particular That's going

to be different. Do you? I don't know in the

response and it's all that different, but I think

it is important to. That when we're trying to

get to know the devil and all the things about

him there, then we would expect. That the that

his attacks would be. Probably way more unexpected

Like we expect that we kind of especially the

older we get we know where our temptations Are

at least most of our weaknesses or what I mean,

that's not to say it can't surprise us this area

sure But I Guess I would just say that they're

you know, it's You know, when we say that he's

scheming and he's opportunistic, he's greedy

for influence, I think when he schemes, he plays

the long game a lot. And then when that opportunity

finally comes for him to spring or to lay his

trap, that's I think the response. in the response

that it may not be different, but it would be

so much better to be able to recognize and see.

I'm not sure that we always can or we ever can,

but I do know that it's, it is helpful, I think,

if you know that this thing is not coming from

me. I can remember one time working. I was by

myself and there was no doubt in my mind that

there was some demon that was Because the thoughts

that just came over me and just the darkness,

I knew it didn't come from me. And I think if

I had thought that it had come from within me,

that would have been really scary. But I knew

that it didn't come from within. So I think in

that respect, in those kinds of situations, it

is important that we know that that's not coming

from within us. And I just think also that in

the battle, at least, the devil is outside of

us. And so in our goings, we should expect that

we're going to see him. Dad told me the story

that Conrad used to walk around his chapel there

and rebuke the devils. Tell them to get away.

We're having a meeting here. And that's what

he would do. I'm not recommending that. I'm not

saying that that wasn't legitimate. He thought

that it was. I know that on Sunday mornings I

pray that the Lord would restrict and hold back

the devil and his demons from interfering in

the hearts and the minds and in the activities

that go on here on Sunday morning. So that's

different than the temptation from within. It's

coming from outside, so I don't know. That's

why I was asking what your thoughts were on it.

Yeah, I mean, I think that's right. I think it

is. Again, I don't know that there's any other

any different response, so to speak, but it is

encouraging to to know. As you said, when those.

Terrible things do come. To know that yeah. This

is this is from Satan. This isn't just me. I

mean, that is helpful. I mean, I don't know what

everybody else's experiences are, but, you know,

I've experienced things similar to Dave there,

where you really do get kind of a glimpse at

evil. At the evil influences and the evil forces

that are outside of you. And, you know, it's

good to know that those things are outside. That

it's not coming from within I Didn't say anything

about that yet. No, I don't know that I'm going

to The idea seems to be the spiritual forces

of wickedness in the heavenly places. I don't

think I wrote it down. But Hodge was just saying,

wicked forces or the demon, you know, spiritually

wicked forces as in demons, demonic activity.

And as far as the heavenly places, I don't really

have much to say there. I haven't really looked

into it that much. It doesn't seem to be, again,

the heavenly places. Some say it is like our

atmosphere, this world. I don't know that that's

necessarily accurate. I don't have an answer

for you. I can look into it. I didn't really

look into the verse that part of the verse 12

much. I had a couple of thoughts and maybe a

question. One thought was about how to like fighting

the temptations. I think it's like I personally

have found help. In just following Jesus example

of fighting with scripture. And so, like, you

know, there have just been times it's like if

you're struggling with a certain doubt or unbelief

or sin that you're needing to deal with, you

can just look up verses about that and even write

them down, memorize them. You know, I've even,

you know, years ago would just write them on

an index card so I could just pick it up and

read it because it was just such a battle in

my mind. So I definitely recommend that. And

then Dave's first point he made about the devil

not being all powerful. I was thinking while

you were talking, I think Becky shared the verses

on Sunday about the same power that raised Jesus

from the dead dwells in us. And I remember thinking

several years ago, it doesn't really feel like

that. Most of the time, it doesn't feel like

we have this amazing power. But when you consider

how powerful these forces of darkness are, that

it really is the powerful Holy Spirit keeping

us going and keeping us faithful and helping

us battle. So that's just an encouraging thought.

And then, I don't know if this is a thought or

a question, the other thing several, several

years ago, I used to always think that when the

devil tempted Jesus, When I would read that I

would picture like they were standing there talking

face to face Like and then one time it occurred

to me like was the devil just putting thoughts

in his mind like he does us What do you think?

Yeah, I think I think I think he was face to

face So, we'll end here and we'll deal, so my

next heading here is to be strong in the Lord.

So, we'll look at that some more next week and

in the power of His might. I do want to point

out, hopefully we heard what Dave said there,

as far as knowing ourselves. I didn't mention

that I don't think, maybe I did in passing, but

that's an important part of the battle. Okay,

that we would all know We're all different right

every one of us is different And so the things

that I struggle with are maybe not the things

that Brian struggles with You know or Jake or

Hannah whatever and so if we we if we know ourselves

That's also key to the battle Okay, if we know

hey, I shouldn't go here. I shouldn't do that.

I shouldn't watch this When somebody starts talking

about this, I shouldn't get involved in that.

You know, whatever it might be. I don't know.

You know yourself. And so to know yourself is

to war. Is to war in a good way. To avoid those

things. To deal with those things. You know,

if you know you're prone to gossip or you're

prone to being bitter. Dealing with those things

don't allowing those things to take root whatever

giving opportunity there, okay? So know yourself

as well be honest with yourself