The Mind of a Warrior

There is no doubt we all wish we had the characteristics of a warrior: Confident, Courageous, Disciplined, Aggressive, Steadfast, and Bold. It is a fact that many of these qualities already exist within us, we have just not been able to put them into practice. I submit they are not always good; sometimes they cause bad decisions in the heat of the moment because the one we follow into battle is not the right one.
I can do all things through him who gives me strength. Phil 4:13
We can get cocky, arrogant, rigid, way too controlling and often way too overbearing when we trust our own instincts to be the god of our choices. Take Naaman for example, a commander and mighty warrior in the Syrian Army who also happened to be a leper. Strange combination to be sure, much like the makeup of we who are today's addicts. Or as I like to call it a "contradiction in progress".
Naaman had to be talked into getting help for his disease (you may be starting to see my point), then he went to the wrong man to heal him looking to pay his way out of pain (getting warmer? When that didn't work, God's man (the one who could heal him), requested an appointment but to Naaman's dismay he wanted just a phone call chat to begin rather than up close and personal (understandable if he had leprosy). He told him to dip in the water seven times to get healed (work the Steps, get a sponsor, bring the Lord into your life).
But that mighty warrior thought he deserved a quick fix (heating up?) and was angry that he wasn't shown respect, him being so courageous and all. But God had a lesson for Naaman, as he does for us - pay attention to the instructions, get humble, trust, and persevere. When he did that (and only then) he become healed and thankful for what he received for free, and he got to keep all his wealth even though he tried to give it away because he became grateful!
We can be that Warrior, but we must follow the instructions of the one we follow into this recovery battle who has the power to heal, not just make us feel better for a few moments. That one is God, through his son Jesus Christ, who was and always will be the most courageous warrior in the history of mankind. He followed the steps his Father laid out for him to a tee, the pain, the suffering, the loss of his life, and the result was the salvation of mankind.
Confident, Courageous, Disciplined, Aggressive, Steadfast and Bold, we become these when we follow Him because "greater is he than is in this world".
The Mind Of A Warrior, that is the mind of Christ!