A desire to conqueror often doesn’t sit well with our modern sensitivities. We tend to view it as oppressive, greedy, or maybe at best an immature competitive drive. And, to be sure, it can be all of these things. But this generally has more to do with the heart behind the desire rather than the desire itself. And perhaps our distorted and limited views have caused us to neglect cultivating this important desire.
To conqueror is to vanquish with a decisive victory. And while this is at least understandable in a military context, it often seems out of place in our everyday lives. It doesn’t seem particularly loving to try to conquer our friends and family, for example. And while we might enjoy sports and other arenas of competition, even our most heated rivalry still doesn’t typically rise to the level of a desire to conqueror. This seems reserved for tyrants, dictators, and bullies.
But our distaste with the idea of conquering often comes down to a matter of perspective. Certainly, we should not be seeking to vanquish a coworker, for instance, as we try to climb to the top of the corporate ladder. But we must not forget that we also live in a world at war, and our battle is not against flesh and blood.
To conqueror is then best understood in this spiritual sense – to subdue and prevail over the forces of darkness while seeking to advance God’s kingdom of light. Is Christ not our conquering king? What plays out on the ball field or at work is then but a mere glimpse of this larger reality, and often our training ground as well. But while we rightly keep these earthly outlets within their proper bounds of intensity, we must not lose our desire to be more than conquerors in the spiritual realms.
Perhaps much of the evil and darkness we see today is due to the men of God losing their conquering spirit.
In the end, be kind to your neighbors without forgetting there’s still evil in the world to be vanquished. Cultivate your conquering spirit and bring a decisive victory for light and goodness throughout the realm of your influence.
Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash
