When you think about weapons, what do you generally think of? I, for one, think about a fight or a war. I don’t think about weapons being used in frivolous matters, but in deadly serious encounters. What else do weapons do? Well, they’re used to protect, to hurt, to guard.

Read this verse with me, please:

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

The word that is translated there “instruments” should actually be translated weapons. And so, the verse takes on a new meaning, at least to me. Instead of letting ourselves be used as weapons of Satan, we are to be used as weapons against Satan. And here’s how:

You are supposed to fight. As a weapon against Satan, you need to recognize this isn’t some kind of game. This isn’t a joke. Christianity is, instead, a war. A deadly serious war. A war that, if surrendered, will lead to eternal death. That’s why we’re called weapons. Because this IS serious, and it takes strength to be victorious. Fortunately, if we know we’re weapons, it helps us know how to act—because we just have to act like a weapon. And that righteous weapon, well, here’s how it will act:

1: It will protect the name/reputation of Jesus. Galatians 2:20 tells us that it is no longer our life that we’re living, but Christ’s. And so, if we claim to be Christians–wearing the name of Christ–and we are out using our bodies as weapons of Satan, what are we doing to the name of Jesus? To the reputation of Jesus? We aren’t protecting it. We’re tarnishing it. We’re working against it. And, if this is a war, well..we’re fighting on the losing side.

2: It will harm Satan. As Christians, we often think about hate being a bad thing. And, yeah, it mostly is. But what about hating Satan? That’s what our mindset should be. After all, he’s hurting everyone we love, deceiving people into thinking they’re saved when instead they’re on the pathway to hell, and walking about trying to devour us. Yes, actually devour us (1 Pet. 5:8). But if we’ll choose the better part like Mary did (Luke 10:42), we’ll hurt Satan’s cause. If we will evangelize and bring more people to God’s side of the fight (aka the victorious side!), we will hurt Satan’s army. And here’s the thing: if you aren’t hurting Satan, what kind of weapon are you? I think the answer you’re looking for is not very sharp/effective.

3: It will guard the heart. Satan aims at our vulnerabilities. After all, it is a war. You don’t go into a war attacking the strongest point. You look for weaknesses. You may even fight dirty. Well, Satan is the king of ‘fight dirty’. He takes good things and makes them bad. He takes bad things and throws them at good people. He takes a lie and spins it into what others will perceive as truth. And he takes aim at your weakest link and throws every fiery dart at it. The good news for us is that if we will maintain communication with the Commander (through prayer – Phil. 4:7), we will have our hearts guarded. We will be ready for the attacks. We will win the skirmishes.

4: It will stay sharp. No dull weapon belongs on the battle field, and the same is true of a dull or lukewarm Christian. Those types of people make Jesus sick (Rev. 3:16-17). And so, to ensure that we will stay sharp and always ready for battle, we must study (1 Pet.3:15, 2 Tim.2:15). But not only study and make ourselves sharp, but help sharpen our comrades (Prov.27:17).

Here’s the thing about these verses that gets me: you’re a weapon whether you like it or not. There is no time that you aren’t a weapon…it’s just, are you a weapon of righteousness or a weapon of unrighteousness? There’s no in between. You’re someone’s weapon. Why not choose to be a weapon on the winning side?

Choose today (and always) to stand as a weapon for God: always ready to fight, to protect, to harm, to guard. And, be a useful weapon. Not one laying on the sidelines. Not one dull and useless. Engaged. Ready. Sharp. Righteous.