Train Your Gaze for Battle

Train Your Gaze - Eyes of the Warrior

Via The Joshua Commission

When Joshua took command of Israel, God’s charge was simple yet demanding: do not let your eyes drift. Victory in Canaan would not come by military strength alone, but by keeping his gaze fixed on the Word of the Lord. In the same way, our battles are won or lost in the discipline of the eyes. 

Where we choose to look determines what fills our hearts, and what fills our hearts directs the course of our lives.  

• Jesus taught, “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light” (Matthew 6:22). 

• Job declared, “I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman” (Job 31:1). 

• Paul prayed that “the eyes of your heart may be enlightened” (Ephesians 1:18). 

These verses show that our gaze is never neutral. Where we look either draws us into light or opens us to darkness.  

In spiritual warfare, the eyes matter. The enemy knows that temptation often begins with a glance. Distraction from prayer or Scripture begins with a wandering gaze. Fear grows when we stare at obstacles instead of promises. When we train our eyes to quickly shift away from sin and fix them on Christ, we close the door to the enemy and open ourselves to the awesome power of the Holy Spirit. 

Today, you and I will face several choices of where to place our eyes: on our phone, at work, in conversations, or walking down the street. The disciplined man looks with purpose and quickly rejects what is harmful. 

This week we will unpack this skill. Today we introduce it. On Wednesday, you will learn the practice. By Friday, you’ll hear a story that proves its power.