What It Means To Be A 'Warrior'

"Warrior."

The word sounds pretty intimidating, but what does it really mean to be a warrior? This will come as a shock (not), but there are many definitions out there for this one word. Warrior can mean anything from "a person who is known for being involved in warfare," to "someone who fights in battle and is known to have courage and skill," even to "someone who is engaged in some struggle or conflict." Now that I've gotten all technical on everyone, and we have seen that Merriam-Webster obviously knows what they are doing when it comes to figuring out what a word means, what happens when we take the word warrior and apply it to all of us on a daily basis?

You see, this past week I was a leader at a young girls' dance camp. The theme was "Warriors for Christ," and the meaning behind that theme was that we are to fight for Christ, because He fights for us daily. It sounds simple enough, but being a warrior is tough business. When life knocks you down, you are not called to stay down. What?! Shocker, I know... Believe it or not, you are called to GET UP. You are called to fight, and not only for yourself, but for your King as well. This new definition really got me thinking (probably too much).

I started to think about all of the battles that the little girls, and even us "big" girls faced daily. There are so many fights out there. There are spiritual conflicts, physical conflicts, and especially mental and emotional conflicts. Girls really do have to deal with so much, and this is without including the sudden problems that pop up in the midst of life. They have to fight against the devil himself, against other people and even against themselves. It can be a huge load to handle for even the strongest of warriors. However, we are not alone. We have one HUGE advantage on our side - Jesus.

Now, these problems are no match for our fearless leader Christ Jesus, but what about for us? How are we to know and simply trust that we will survive anything coming our way? Well, that is called faith, my friends, and it is a key component of being a Warrior. His word tells us, "But the Lord is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail..." We must always remember that we cannot fail with the Lord on our side. We have victory in Him, as long as we fight for Him as He does us.

And that is what being a warrior is all about. That mentality that, even in total darkness, with no way out, we are still to fight for the light. Because we have the Lord on our side. And with Him, we will never truly be lost. We will never lose.