If you’ve seen the Color Purple, I’m sure you know the part of the movie where Oprah’s character, Sophia, confronts Whoopi Goldberg. 

(*Note: In no way am I endorsing or condoning domestic violence. If you or someone you know is a victim, I've added links at the end of this post to help.)

While Oprah’s talking, she says “All my life I’ve had to fight.”

This phrase applies to you too.

All your life you’ll have to fight.

Fighting is mentioned many times in the Bible. Even one of Jesus’s disciples, Peter, cut off the ear of one of  Pharaoh's men when they came to pick up Jesus before the crucifixion. - Luke 22:51 (Jesus healed it up though, so it was all good.)

A lot of times when someone starts talking about fighting, people think it means

• Throwing ‘bows (*cue Ludacris*)
• Taking off earrings
• Using weapons

Thankfully, you won’t need any of those types weapons to fight the battles that you’ll face during this fast.

Instead you’ll need spiritual weapons.

Check out Ephesians 6:11-17 CEB for yourself, and then spend a few minutes to think about how God equips us with all that we need to fight the mental battles that we experience each day (whether we’re fasting or not.) These verses help when:

• Your laundry is piled high and sink is full
• You’re about to send that “per my last email” email to one of your coworkers who doesn’t read anything
• Your kids don’t want to act right
• You’re hangry (hungry + angry)

11 Put on God’s armor so that you can make a stand against the tricks of the devil. 12 We aren’t fighting against human enemies but against rulers, authorities, forces of cosmic darkness, and spiritual powers of evil in the heavens. 13 Therefore, pick up the full armor of God so that you can stand your ground on the evil day and after you have done everything possible to still stand. 14 So stand with the belt of truth around your waist, justice as your breastplate, 15 and put shoes on your feet so that you are ready to spread the good news of peace. 16 Above all, carry the shield of faith so that you can extinguish the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is God’s word. 

Ephesians 6:11-17 CEB

He gives us all we need to fight...and to win. 

How you’ll fight with God’s help during the next few weeks? Reply in the comments below or in the Facebook Group sharing how you’ll fight. 

*If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, contact the National Domestic Violence Hotline here or call 1−800−799−7233.