Like millions of other Americans, I was devastated to learn that Charlie Kirk had been killed while at a speaking engagement. Given his strong Christian beliefs, I wondered how he might have reacted had he survived the shooting. I envision him emphasizing that we are at war, but it is not a political battle between the political left and right, as many people think. Rather, we are at war with demons.

Conservative pundit Tucker Carlson once asked Kirk how the terrible circumstances in our country didn’t drive him crazy. Kirk did not hesitate: “For those of us who are Christians, it doesn’t drive us crazy. You actually see what’s going on, which is that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and darkness and spirits, that there is a spiritual war here.”

Kirk said there is no rational explanation for what our country is undergoing.

“There is an entire dimension of angels and demons and spirits that are constantly struggling around us.” He was referencing St. Paul’s words in Ephesians 6:12: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the principalities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.”

In one interview, Kirk was asked how he would like to be remembered after his death. “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith.”

Had he survived the shooting, I think he would have continued on his courageous path, which would be speaking at college campuses. In interviews, he was clear about what motivated him as a speaker. God calls Christians in different ways to serve him, he explained. “My call is to fight evil and proclaim truth.”

He proclaimed the truth when a college student, who identified as a transgender male, asked his opinion about what age kids should be able to get hormone therapy. The student was confused about what is really helpful. Kirk was compassionate in his reply. “I want you to be very cautious putting drugs into your system in the pursuit of changing your body.”

He encouraged the student to find a counselor who would give him a diagnosis and listen to what he had been through. “My prayer for you is I want to see you comfortable in how you were born.”

A strong pro-life apologist, Kirk spoke with numerous college students who had been thoroughly versed in the notion of being “pro-choice.” He stripped the argument down to its basics. “Why should you have the ability to eliminate a smaller human?” he asked a young woman. When another student kept referring to a fetus rather than a baby, he asked her, “Do you go to a fetus shower or a baby shower?”

The students floundered, as they tried to defend their pro-choice position. One young woman argued that the baby has no rights of its own because it is entirely dependent on the mother. Kirk pointed out that some babies born prematurely are dependent on medical devices to keep them alive, yet we give them human rights.

There was a vivid encounter at one college, where a person wearing headgear resembling the occultic figure Baphomet emerged from the crowd of students and stepped up to the microphone. He had long robes studded with Satanic symbols. When he began making guttural sounds into the microphone, Kirk shouted, “In the name of Jesus, I repudiate this unclean spirit.” The Satanist walked away.

Sadly, some of Kirk’s supporters have taken to social media to stoke the fires of anger and revenge against people on the political left. But had Kirk lived, I believe he would have taken a very different path, the Christian one. This path entails doing the hardest thing of all, which is forgiving our enemies. As Kirk put it, “To be a Christian means to excuse the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”

Those who have anger festering in their hearts following Kirk’s death may not realize it, but they are feeding the demons. As Christians, we are called to model ourselves after Christ, who told us to love and pray for those who persecute us.

We cannot win a spiritual war with shouting matches and vicious social-media posts. There was a point where Jesus’ disciples were unable to cast out a demon from someone, and Jesus told them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer and fasting” (Mark 9:29).

Let’s keep the memory of Charlie Kirk alive by rebuking the demons that continue to stalk our country. The ongoing hatred and anger between people with different political beliefs sharply contrasts with Christ’s call to pray for our enemies.

Christ cried from the cross, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Can we do any less with the people we call our enemies?