We need to fight against everything that keeps us from the love of God.
One morning, a child approached his grandfather and asked him: “Grandpa, inside my heart there lives a wolf and a sheep. Which of the two will grow? And his grandfather replied: !The one you feed will grow.”
Photo: Wesley Almeida/
Within us also reside a wolf and a sheep. The wolf feeds on our sins and the sheep on our holiness. However, every day, we are influenced by the forces of evil that try to keep us from God’s love. The enemy is perceptive and acts silently on the sources of feeling: the heart. In this silence, the enemy seeks to feed our inner wolf, leading us to say ‘yes’ to sin. Sin feeds evil in us. However, we will always have the freedom to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in the face of an enemy attack. The Holy Scriptures guide us to win the wars of spiritual terrorism that the enemy tries to implant in our soul.
It is necessary for us to fight against everything that separates us from the love of God: “Put to death that which belongs to the earth in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desires and the desire to possess, which is idolatry” (Col 3:5).
It is necessary to abandon feelings, words and actions that disfigure our divine identity: “Now, however, abandon all these: anger, rage, malice, slander and obscene words, which come out of your mouths. Do not lie to one another” (Col 3:8).
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The pursuit of holiness enables us to feed our hearts with love for our brothers and sisters: “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with feelings of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. Support each other and forgive each other whenever you have a complaint against someone. Each one forgives the other, just as the Lord has forgiven you. And above all, clothe yourselves with love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col 3:12-14).
The search for things above makes us walk with our hearts in God and a look of mercy towards our brothers and sisters: “The wisdom that comes from above is, above all, pure, peaceful, humble, understanding, full of mercy and good fruits, without discrimination and without hypocrisy” (James 3:17).
Being silent in the face of an attack is the way to not feed the evil in the hearts of those who seek to create wars and divisions: “Without firewood, the fire goes out; without a defamer, the fight is over” (Pr 26:20).
The path to victory for peace is to reconcile yourself with your feelings: “Where do the conflicts and competitions that exist between you come from? Don’t they come exactly from the pleasures that war in your members? You covet, and do not possess; then they kill. You are jealous and achieve nothing; so they fight and make war. You do not receive, because you do not ask; and you ask, but do not receive, because you ask badly, intending to spend on your pleasures” (James 4:1-3).
Everything that diminishes another’s dignity is a plate full of evil for the wolf to fatten the evil that seeks to satisfy itself with disrespect towards others: “Brothers, don’t criticize each other! ” (James 4:11).
To overcome an attack it is necessary to cultivate a prayer life based on the Word of God. Our soul feeds on what we offer it.
Father Flávio Sobreiro
With a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from PUCCAMP and a Theologian from the Catholic College of Pouso Alegre (MG), Father Flávio Sobreiro is the parish priest of the São José Parish, in Toledo (MG), and a priest of the Archdiocese of Pouso Alegre (MG). He is the author of, and since 2011, he has been a columnist for Portal . To find out more about the priest and follow other reflections, visit: @peflaviosobreirodacosta.