It has been some time since my last LifeWord Summary, but I hope to make these more regular in the months ahead. I’ve been particularly eager to complete this one, as it focuses on what I believe to be a profoundly important book for our time. Unlike many of John Mark Comer’s works on spiritual formation, this book stands out by situating formation within the context of spiritual warfare. Comer invites us to confront the ancient, yet often overlooked, enemies of the soul: the world, the flesh, and the devil.

This approach naturally leads him to offer a thoughtful critique of our cultural moment, exposing the subtle and destructive forces at play in modern society. At the same time, Comer draws deeply from ancient and biblical wisdom, challenging readers to recover timeless truths and practices that cultivate true freedom and flourishing in Christ.

The book is about what it means to be a real disciple of Jesus in our age. The call to be a follower of Jesus is a call into battle. But our fight is not against people. It is against the world, the flesh and the devil. We have to resist the deceptive ideas that play to our disordered desires which then become normalised in society. We fight these enemies of the soul with spiritual disciplines such as prayer, fasting, biblical meditation, confession and participation in a local church. But ultimately we defeat them by denying ourselves and by dying to live the true life of God’s kingdom.