Equipped To Defend Research Paper

Words: 1317
Pages: 6

Equipped to Defend What, more often than not, are the common sins and temptations that Christians and ordinary people face every day? While some face seemingly outrageous temptations, things which hardly ever cross the minds of ordinary people, most face little temptations. These daily trials can appear harmless and irrelevant in the grand scheme of things; however, they are often "gateway sins" of sorts. For example, skipping Bible reading for one day due to a packed itinerary could result in disastrous consequences, such as skipping Bible reading for a week, then a month, then a few months, et cetera. Allowing oneself to skip working out for a day as the result of fatigue can make one less inclined to perform the difficult, yet …show more content…
Among the many opportunities for sin in home life, at least at a younger age, is succumbing to the feelings of anger and annoyance sometimes felt towards siblings. Feeding the fire and raging against brothers and sisters may seem regretful but not deeply so if the outburst lasts a short period of time. However, a short outburst here and there, over the course of time, eventually creates rifts between siblings, continued aggression, and sometimes constant anger. Attempting to ignore the feelings at the beginning and turning attention to more positive matters helps mend broken bonds and allows for forgiveness and forgetfulness. Also a present danger in the home life is the relationship between a person and their parents. In The Screwtape Letters, Wormwood's patient has a coarse relationship with his mother. With his years of experience, Screwtape instructs Wormwood to build up "a good settled habit of mutual annoyance: daily prinpicks." After that statement, the uncle proceeds to enlighten Wormwood as to four different means for accomplishing this goal of destroying the relationship between mother and son. First, Wormwood must encourage his patient to focus on his inner states of mind, convincing him that there is where the conversion to Christianity occurred. Second, keep the patient's prayers focused on the "spiritual" things such as praying for his mother's soul. Soon, the patient will begin to pray daily for his mother's "sins", particularly the little annoyances she causes him, and will deepen the soreness of the days wounds. Third, focus the patient's attention on the miniscule, irritating twitches and habits which his mother possesses. Screwtape instructs Wormwood to "Let him assume that she knows how annoying it is and does it just to annoy."(26) Finally, invoke in the patient a habit of saying things in particular tones or with particular inflections that create harmful daggers out of