Love equals War

I heard Jordin Sparks new song "Battlefield" today while out with my girls. One of my favorite things is finding truth (REAL truth) in things that weren't trying to convey it. Here's what I was thinking about as I listened...

One minute it's love
And suddenly it's like a battlefield

A battle isn't what I was thinking about when I married my husband. I was thinking love and bliss and sometimes it will be hard and commitment and all that stuff... but not war.

One word turns into a war
Why is it the smallest things that tear us down?
My world's nothing when you don't
I'm not here without a shield
Can't go back now

That's right, it's for life and we're in a battle against the Prince of Darkeness. He would like nothing better than to turn us against one another and make the war between us instead of between us and him.

Ephesians 6:12

¹²For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Both hands, tied behind my back with nothing
Oh no, these times when we climb so fast to fall again
Why we gotta fall for it now

Everything's going great and then suddenly we're in an argument, right? or someone's feelings get hurt and the night is ruined. We climb so fast to fall again.

I never meant to start a war
You know I never wanna hurt you
Don't even know what we're fighting for

So many interpretations here: I didn't even know I was becoming a soldier when I got married. I enlisted in more than companionship and didn't realize it.

Of course we don't want to hurt our spouse (usually), but we do and they hurt us and we look back on our day or our month or our life and say, "How did we even get here?" Don't even know why we're fighting with each other and we lose sight of what we should be fighting for.

Why does love always feel like a battlefield
A battlefield, a battlefield?
Why does love always feel like a battlefield
A battlefield, a battlefield?
Why does love always feel like

Can't swallow our pride
Neither of us wanna raise that flag
If we can't surrender then we both gonna lose
What we had, oh no

Compromise... more than compromise, it's surrender. Surrender to God. Surrender to Him and therefore, to each other. Mutual servanthood. Sounds like both become wooses? Nope, without surrender we both gonna lose. Any win by one or the other is a loss for the team.

^{Ephesians 5:21}

²¹Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.


I guess you better go and get your armor
(Get your armor)
Get your armor
I guess you better go and get your armor
(Get your armor)
Get your armor
I guess you better go and get your

I love this part. Of course, she means armor to defend ourselves from each other, but what armor ARE we admonished to put on every day?

Ephesians 6:11

¹¹Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Truth around our waist, Righteousness protecting our hearts, walking in Peace, deflecting Satan's attacks with Faith and driving him back with the Word. And praying always... it's the hardest to pray together when you're upset isn't it? I have to admit that we've never done that. It's a great idea though, yes? What better way to remind yourselves and Satan that you know what the war is really for, what it's really about. What a great way to purposefully declare that you both know that the things going on in the spirit world are even more real and important than the temporal things of this world.

We could pretend that we are friends tonight
(Oh, oh, oh)
And in the morning we'll wake up and we'll be alright

Woops. God doesn't recommend that...

Ephesians 4:26

²⁶"In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.

Often it is easier to pretend or ignore, but facing our issues in short order will ensure Satan does not get a foothold in our hearts. And, after all, pretending is, in the end, just pretend.

'Cause baby, we don't have to fight
And I don't want this love to feel like

A battlefield, a battlefield, a battlefield
Why does love always feel like a battlefield
A battlefield, a battlefield

I guess you better go and get your armor

I never meant to start a war
You know I never wanna hurt you
Don't even know what we're fighting for
(Fighting, fighting for)

Selah.