From The Commands of the Apostles by Michael Phillips. Read by Michael Kimball. More information on this and similar writings may be found at Father of the Inklings. Visit Amazon to purchase The Commands of the Apostles and other books by Michael Phillips.

Speaking personally from the depth of my heart, I consider this among the most imperative of all the commands for our time.

Few commands give such a wide berth to a diversity of interpretations as this. How do we define ”spiritual warfare?” The question is complex and raises a multitude of scripturally entangling conundrums that are not simple to resolve.

If one were to formulate a perspective of What Christianity is from the preaching and teaching of modern evangelicalism, many might conclude it is a religion whose foundation is a Genie in a bottle ready and able to do man’s bidding if we just rub the right place, while repeating the correct doctrinal incantations.

We are familiar with Paul’s timeless words in 1 Corinthians 13, ”Love...does not rejoice at wrong, but rejoices in the right.” The NIV has it, ”does not delight in evil.” That simple word change may reveal a great deal about ourselves.

Humility is a quality of character and an attribute of Jesus’ being that we can wear.

If we are brutally honest with ourselves, our response to the commands reveal the state of our spiritual condition.

To see though anyone else’s eyes requires looking in the same direction they are...When Jesus said, ”Behold,”...he was talking about another kind of vision--inner vision.

It would make an interesting experiment to attempt to identify the single principle of spirituality that the world vilifies, mocks, and rejects more than any other. Many options leap to mind: righteousness, authority, obedience, humility. Another possibility may surprise us--purity.

Of the many commands we have considered, which are those at the top of the list? Which are those that incorporate all the others into them? We immediately recognize Christlikeness as a recurring signature tune of the commands. Obviously, obedience is the doorway into the Christlikeness God desires to develop within us.