“Remain steadfast in yourself! No enemy, whether internal or external, can defeat you if you are master of yourself” (St. Bonaventure).
We could also paraphrase St. Bonaventure as follows: “Keep your inner house in order so that everything is centered on God and in harmony with His will. Then, no matter what happens, we can retreat to that inner refuge of peace and remain there.”
Enemies are there, and even though they themselves do not want or imagine it, our Heavenly Father uses them to strengthen and consolidate our faith.
Being the master of oneself means that, with God’s grace, our spirit and our will are not carried away by disordered passions, by various kinds of inner tribulation, by adverse circumstances, or by the influence of other people or evil spirits. Maintaining this lordship will always involve a struggle, but the “master of the house”—that is, our spirit—is alert and knows that a thief may come, so he prepares himself accordingly. As lords of our house, we are under the lordship of our Heavenly Father, that is, under His guidance; therefore, enemies and all kinds of hostility will not only have to face us, but the Lord Himself will defeat them with our cooperation.
For our part, it is essential to remain vigilant—an attitude that is part of the basic equipment of the spiritual life—so that we never let ourselves be carried away and end up losing control of ourselves. And if we ever fall, it is important to immediately return to our inner home, once we have put everything in order before the Lord.
Additionally, we must learn from our defeats, recognizing, on the one hand, the mercy with which God lifts us up and, on the other, noting what our weak point was, so that we can better protect our home and close any gaps.