{"id":1308,"date":"2010-02-17T09:13:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-17T09:13:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/02\/three-weapons-to-fight-the-un-holy-trinity\/"},"modified":"2010-02-17T09:13:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-17T09:13:00","slug":"three-weapons-to-fight-the-un-holy-trinity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2010\/02\/three-weapons-to-fight-the-un-holy-trinity.html","title":{"rendered":"Three Weapons to Fight the Un-Holy Trinity"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
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The un-holy Trinity are the false goods and false gods that Satan sets up. They are the World, the Flesh and the Devil. I wrote about how the Holy Trinity counters the un-Holy Trinity here<\/a>, but as we head into Lent consider the tools we are given to battle the un-holy Trinity: there are three, and they give us a well rounded and complete armory in the fight.<\/p>\n

The three are prayer, almsgiving and abstinence, and together they counter the World, the Flesh and the Devil. How so?\u00a0 The World is the underlying assumption that life is about power and prosperity. We\u2019re here to get money, save money, spend money and attain worldly wealth and power right? Wrong. And it is almsgiving that counters this basic assumption that it\u2019s all about money.<\/p>\n

When you give your money sacrificially you\u2019re telling your bank account who\u2019s boss. You\u2019re taking control of money and by giving it away you\u2019re telling the money god just what you think of him. You\u2019re reminding yourself that money is like manure: spread it around and it does a lot of good. Save it all in one place and it starts to stink and breeds germs. So almsgiving is a direct, practical and simpe way to put The World in its place and turn our hearts to heaven.<\/p>\n

Abstinence, or giving something up for Lent, is a sure way to discipline the flesh. It\u2019s fashionable to cut this one out these days and say, \u201cInstead of giving something up, I\u2019m taking something up.\u201d\u2013meaning some good cause. Actually we\u2019re supposed to do both, and the old tradition of giving up some physical pleasure means that we are taking the threat of The Flesh seriously. The Flesh is not just the physical pleasures of food, sex, sleep, entertainment\u00a0and drink. It is also the underlying assumption that life is all about keeping this body of mine satiated with all sorts of pleasurable sensations. Giving up a fleshly pleasure corrects that underlying assumption and shifts our attention to higher things.<\/p>\n

Prayer is the antidote to The Devil. It\u2019s simple. The Devil wants to be worshipped instead of God. By offering more prayer and worship to God we stymie the devil. By turning our attention to God and offering him our devotion and obedience we trample down the head of Satan during Lent.<\/p>\n

So this Lent we battle the un-holy Trinity with three holy weapons. Almsgiving counters The World. Abstinence counters The Flesh and Prayer counters The Devil.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The un-holy Trinity are the false goods and false gods that Satan sets up. They are the World, the Flesh and the Devil. I wrote about how the Holy Trinity counters the un-Holy Trinity here, but as we head into Lent consider the tools we are given to battle the un-holy Trinity: there are three, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":557,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThree Weapons to Fight the Un-Holy Trinity<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The un-holy Trinity are the false goods and false gods that Satan sets up. They are the World, the Flesh and the Devil. 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