I just finished Malcolm Gladwell’s book David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants. As a result of my transformative experience with this book, three primary lessons emerged for me, and I will do my best to apply them to my life for the rest of my life. First, everything we see and experience is a matter of perspective: Giants—whether they are people with power, situations, organizations, challenges, or failures—can be defeated. Second, don’t let the norms of society dictate your approach to overcoming a challenge or something you must conquer: Use what God has given you the power, ability, and skills to do. Third, when you emerge from persecution with forgiveness, fear loses its power allowing you to live freely, the way God intended.

Without spoiling it for those of you who still plan to read Gladwell’s book, David and Goliath, I’d like to expound a little on each of these with regard to what I’ve learned about “giants.” These lessons need to be nurtured within us for each is clearly rooted in who God is and who He has created us to be in the world.

What we “see” is a matter of perspective: In the bible, 2 Corinthians 5:7 says “for we walk by faith, not by sight.” One of the reasons we must do this is because God Himself, and all that He has given us power and authority to do, cannot be seen with the naked eye. Although we can see the manifestations of God’s awesome power, much of what we need to believe, in order to conquer our “giants,” takes faith. Besides, there’s always a weakness in the “giant” and God has already placed all of the power we need to take down what comes against the destiny He designed in us. Gladwell explains some very critical insights about Goliath’s weaknesses that I’ve never heard anyone share. These critical insights reminded me that “everything is not as it seems.” Therefore, it is very important to look past what we can see and believe in the power of God in us and our victory over the unseen.

Don’t let the norms of society dictate your approach: Although there are a lot of good in what society suggests we need to do, it doesn’t always mean it’s what God wants for us. Besides, there are lots of choices and we have to choose what God has for our destiny. Gladwell describes four types of warriors in the days when David defeated Goliath. Each type of warrior was categorized by skill, and the advantages and disadvantages were critical to military strategy. David and Goliath were two different kinds of warriors—something misunderstood by Goliath, yet clearly evident to David. For each of us, God has given us the measure of faith, characteristics, talents, gifts, experiences, and skills He’s helped us to develop. All of these are uniquely ours for a strategic advantage over the enemy. When we let others—instead of God—dictate how we should approach a problem, we lose. When we use what God has put in our hands with the skill He’s helped us to cultivate, we win.

Emerge from persecution with forgiveness to live in liberty: When our lives or livelihoods are threatened, it’s easy—really easy—to become fearful. The threat of losing either of these can open the door for fear to come into our hearts either fast and forcefully or slow and incrementally. Gladwell shares that, for many of us, when we escape or survive a life-threatening experience, we emerge in a way that makes us less fearful. He also talks about how we sometimes become more afraid of being afraid so fear itself losses its power. Whether we are no longer afraid because we survived what held power over us initially or become more afraid of being afraid, both of these require an added choice in order to truly live in liberty—it’s called forgiveness. When we forgive we deflect an attack from the enemy that was intended to cause us to live in loss and defeat. To truly and authentically forgive those who persecuted us—sometimes causing unimaginable pain—allows us to embrace the liberty of life.

Challenge: Take a moment and write down your gifts and skills, then ask yourself “do I use what God has given me to come against the enemy’s attacks or am I using what others think I should use?” If you’re not sure, ask God and He will help you answer that question. When we walk by faith, we demonstrate belief in the power of what God has given us, we forgive, and we dismantle those places in our lives where fear can reside.