Conquering our Giants

“So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone;

without a sword in his hand He struck down the Philistine and killed him.” – I Samuel 17

 

While we were on spring break I had the opportunity to read Goliath Must Fall by Louie Giglio. In this book he discusses five specific adversaries or strongholds that diminish our ability to live a full and free life. Because we become so consumed by these “giants,” we lose sight of the promise God has for our lives. The five giants are: fear, rejection, comfort, anger, and addiction.

The first giant mentioned by Louie Giglio is the giant of fear. Not necessarily the type associated with a cat in a room full of rocking chairs, but a fear or anxiety that dominates our way of thinking to such an extreme that we lose our ability to function. As this fear or uncertainty creeps into our thoughts, it accounts for sleepless nights, and deprives us from experiencing the life God intended.

The second of these fears is rejection. Perhaps we live in a very performance-based environment, and if we fall short, we will also fall short of getting the approval we desire so much. In The Twin Thieves, Lucas Jadin writes about this idea. He mentions that especially for today’s youth, the fears of failure and judgement are two things our next generation is most consumed by. Our concerns about rejection and lack of acceptance can become so paralyzing that it drives us into a perfectionist lifestyle.

Perhaps a giant called comfort has taken hold of our lives, which is the third on mentioned by Giglio. Comfort is not a terrible thing in the true sense of it providing relief and relaxation we so desperately need, but if it manifests into complacency or entitlement, than real problems are destined to ensue. Many times people attempt to take the path of least resistance, only to find this path to be full of pitfalls.

The fourth giant that can harm us is anger. This is one of the more dangerous of giants because we sometimes allow it to reside deep within us, and we can carry it around for long periods of time. Finally, after we have seen enough, the anger spills out and causes us to do or say things we regret for the rest of our lives. We know this anger is a burden God did not intend for us to bear, but we can’t find a way to get control of it.

Finally, the last of these giants is addiction. There are many addictions that taunt us throughout each day, and the majority of us struggle with at least one. The addiction might be a particular behavior, or even a substance like alcohol, drugs, pornography, gambling, shopping, or binge eating. Maybe we become addicted to acting a certain way, and we rationalize our poor behavior by saying, “Well, that’s just the way I am.”

Regardless of which one of these giants we might be suffering from, we all serve a God who is much bigger than ALL of these put together. So how do we get rid of these giants in our lives that take away our opportunity to live the life He is calling us to live? Jesus offers an abundant life for all of those who choose to follow Him. He tells us about this in the gospel of John, chapter 10: “The thief comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and live it to the full.”

If any of these giants are dominating your life and you find yourself looking for a way to defeat them, Giglio mentions the following: “Jesus didn’t come to earth to die on the cross and be resurrected from the grave so we could settle for a reduced amount of God’s best. Jesus intended for us to “really live” (Thessalonians 3:8), and that means we can live freely in the power of what He has accomplished for us.”

As we make our way closer to the celebration of Easter, and work to defeat the giants in our lives, it is my prayer for all of us that we will remember that while the giant we are battling might be big, it is no match for a Jesus who endured death on a cross, and rose again so that we might have eternal life with Him.

Author: Royce Slechta, Social Studies/Athletic Department