Aligned with God
Strength for the Battles We Face
Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. — James 4:7
Our lives are full of choices. Each day, we decide what we will allow into our minds, what influences we will entertain, and how we will respond to the situations placed before us. Some choices feel small and insignificant. Others feel weighty and consequential. Yet all of them shape the direction of our lives.
James had just spoken plainly about sin, how it disrupts relationships, and how it distances us from God. He reminds his readers that God gives more grace, grace that meets us in weakness and calls us toward humility. But then he makes a statement that is both simple and profound: Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
The order matters.
Victory over temptation does not begin with resisting the devil. It begins with submitting to God. Submission is not weakness; it is alignment. It is the daily choice to place ourselves under God’s authority, trusting His wisdom above our desires.
Sin often feels powerful because it appeals to what we want in the moment. But James reminds us that we are not helpless. Through submission to God, we receive strength to resist what would pull us away from Him. Resistance flows out of surrender.
Resisting the devil is not dramatic or loud. Often it is quiet and deliberate, choosing integrity over compromise, truth over deception, and patience over anger. It is refusing to allow temptation to dictate our direction. And James gives us a promise: when we resist, the enemy flees.
The Christian life is not lived in our own strength. It is lived in dependence on God’s grace and in conscious surrender to His will. Submission positions us under His protection and within His strength.
If you feel the pull of temptation or the weight of repeated struggle today, remember this: you are not without help. Begin with submission. Draw near to God. And as you do, you will find the strength to stand firm. Where might God be inviting you to submit your will more fully to Him?
Another Well Ministries is supported entirely by readers like you.
If these devotionals have strengthened your faith, encouraged you in a hard season, or helped you grow in Scripture, your partnership makes that possible for others.
A monthly gift of $10, $25, or $50 helps ensure God’s Word continues reaching hearts consistently and faithfully. Would you prayerfully consider becoming a monthly partner?
Learn more and give at AnotherWell.org/donate
These devotionals are written to encourage, challenge, and support you in your walk with God. If they are meaningful to you, you can subscribe and receive them by email.
About Another Well Ministries
Another Well Ministries exists to help people slow down, listen deeply, and encounter God in the ordinary places of life. Through devotionals, reflections, and spiritual resources, we seek to create space for faith to be formed with honesty, grace, and hope.
To learn more about the heart of the ministry or explore additional resources, visit anotherwell.org.
Well done Jared.