Another Look at Humility Part 5

Were Not a Door mat! 

 

Humility is the use of ones faculties in their proper place and control to accomplish a desired effect.  Jesus could have crushed anyone he wanted in the Garden of Gethsemane but was sure of his goal.  A skilled fighter coach made a statement at the  fight meeting I attended in September.  He stated that the fighters were not to do certain maneuvers because it was a sport event and not mortal combat. In Karate, there are various philosophies, but one that I have come to understand is the difference between application of power in punches and kicks.  Punching and kicking into the air is completely different than hitting a focus pad, or heavy bag. The air gives really, really easy; heavy 6 foot bags don’t.  Focus pads give a bit, but if you punch out of alignment with your arm it hurts your wrist!  So what happens if you begin to learn how the technique really works, and the difference between sport karate and real life protection arts, or as the late master Taika Oyata stated once in an interview “Shin-jutsu”.  (follow my link at the 3:50 mark where he explains it) The differences are not really obvious until you have a few years under your…. Pardon the pun….. Belt. there are times to hit full blast, there are times to hit partial and then there are times to know when to pull the punches and do no harm! If a martial artist was startled and had became angry because you saw a punch that looked like it was coming directly towards your face come to an abrupt halt, put yourself in his or her shoes.  One can feel a great deal of torque to stop a certain action just shy of hitting someone. It really does take a great deal of control… and for that matter self control to pull a punch.  The same thing applies in the spiritual realm not to have your feathers ruffled!
Let us look now at the Christian.  The real battle field is in between the ears, not out there in the world at large.  St Paul penned it best In Ephesians 6:12 when he said:

“We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and wickedness in high places”

The battle of ideologies in the mind and spirit seem to be much more violent than a physical altercation, mainly due to the fact that these physical altercations come from our members warring within us (James 4:1)
The battle field of the mind is a much more dangerous place, because no one can see the enemy but the person himself! It can be faulty thinking or a true spiritual battle between what we should do and what we (our physical nature) wants to do.
For example, have you ever met someone who annoyed the pants off of you? 

We all have!

Paul also stated in 2 Corinthians 10: 3-5 that we are  “. . . bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” No where does it say this is impossible, although it does not say it is easy either.  Just like the athlete and martial artist it requires WORK!