⁷ Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

How strongly do we really work to resist the enemy?

We may freely submit to God when we come to faith, but we are still in this broken vessel while on earth where the enemy holds sway.

The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

Thus, we must put God first in everything. Holding every thought captive so that the Spirit can overcome the flesh.

Much like a muscle that grows and improves with exercise, so too our spirit when we submit and resist. But this must be a moment by moment submission and resistance. Even the barest of moments of weakness makes the earthen vessel crack and quickly crumble.

Even if we have honed our bodies, metaphorically, into things of strength like steel it is often our feet of clay that cause us to fall.

Take captive today every moment and give them to Christ so you will have a spirit of strength to resist temptation.