Battle between the Spirit and the Flesh
Written April 10th 2015
You know those times when you know you shouldn’t do something bad but you do it anyways? Or go some place you know you shouldn’t but you still go? Or say something so foul you question yourself and your thoughts or regret later?
I believe that is our Spirit man and our sinful nature fighting.
Sometimes I’d do something I know I shouldn’t have done. Or say something terrible to someone and seriously regret it afterwards. And then later, I keep thinking, like why did I do that? Why did I say that horrible thing?
I know some of us are guilty of the things highlighted in my Bible. It is a constant battle and we are not to give up. I know some people that can’t get over some habits and because of that they decide to not try to be godly anymore and wait until they are “ready” or “strong enough” to overcome these challenges.
I visited a friend some months back and was sharing the Gospel and this young man had a heart for God but he had habits he couldn’t stop. He couldn’t stop consuming alcohol, fornicating and he thought Christian music was boring therefore he loved secular music. He explained that because of these habits, he keeps backsliding and due to his struggles he got tired and decided to not follow Christ anymore. I explained that he didn’t have to come to God clean and perfect, God LOVES it when we come exactly as we are. In any state! Because that is how He can show you who He is and what He can do. (If you come to God, a mess and he cleans you up, when you look back and see how far you have come and what you have become, you will know that is God because there is a big difference between your old and new life). He disagreed, saying he wanted to be “ready” for God. He wanted to come to God on his own time when he had stopped all his bad habits and was “pure” for God.
My heart was breaking. You. can’t. do. it. on. your. own.
Galatians 5 v 4; “You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ, you have been alienated from grace”
This is living by the law, where there were rules concerning almost everything and because people are always trying to do the good thing, they get stressed and sometimes lose their faith.
I used to be like this. It was SO hard letting some habits go and I’d tell God that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t stop wearing mini skirts and dresses (they were my faves haha), I couldn’t stop talking the way I did ( I swore — a lot) or I couldn’t stop seeing this fella or that fella. I was really having proper conversations with God. Like I would think about these things deeply or say it out loud to God. I just couldn’t understand how we are to be like Christ when it is so easy to fall back into sin. I mean how do you suddenly stop swearing? How do you break off a relationship with someone you have bonded so deeply with? I’d tell God that I couldn’t, that I will stay in the world and when I felt stronger and ready to leave the world I’ll come back to Him. I said this many times but I was never ready to leave the world.
We can never be ready. We will never be ready.
Galatians 1 v 6; “Know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ”
You don’t have to “holy” or “pure” when you come to God. Sure you have heard this before but God doesn’t care really, He accepts you as you are. He does not want us to live by the law. Since He sent Jesus as a sacrifice, we have been given grace (to pardon our sins). So, when we sin and regret what we have done all we have to do is tell God about it. Tell Him you are sorry. And then turn away from that sin and continue living your life. That’s it. You don’t have to think too much and feel sorry for yourself or think you are too bad or too dirty or whatever. Self-condemnation is from the devil. God does not condemn.
Galatians 3 v 25; “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law”
Think of it this way; when a baby is trying to learn how to walk and he keeps falling, what does he do? He continues trying! Babies walk, fall and continue walking.
That is how our walk with God should be. We fall but we get up to walk again.
So what should we do to be on our feet? The key is to “feed” our Spirit man. We are to simply do what we can do and others will fall in place. God just takes over from there and soon you will begin to see how easier it has become for you to stop listening to secular music.
Can’t stop going to wild parties or dressing immodestly? Eaassyyy. When your friends ask you to go out with them say no. Keep saying no and watch what happens. And you, try covering up your cleavage when you dress up and tell me how you feel when you get back.
We have to start. I believe God won’t start for us. God won’t make decisions and choices for us. It is when you make a decision that He comes to help you with your plan.
No decision, no plan. Nothing for God to work with.
How do we feed our Spirit man? And what is a Spirit man? Your spirit is what lives in your body. A spirit cannot live on earth, it needs a body so simply put, you are a spirit living in a body. The body is something our spirit needs to live on earth.
To be able to overcome all these bad habits, we just need to feed the part that we want to win.
Our body (flesh) wants the things of the world because it is only natural (because Eve ate that darn apple), while our spirit wants the things of God because it is a part of God, so it is normal for it to want to be godly.
Galatians 5 v 17; “The sinful self wants what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against the sinful self. They are always fighting against each other, so that you don’t do what you really want to do. But if you let the Spirit lead you, you are not under the law”
Our Spirit Man needs food like; the Word (the Bible); you can have a buffet by getting different versions of the Bible; KJV, The Message, NIV, Easy to Read
and also listen to some sermons online. There are so many good messages you can listen to on Youtube.
Spiritual books are a must; They help us understand a lot of things. Most times when we read the Bible we do not understand, some parts are too big to swallow but books break it down and make it easier to swallow and digest.
Music; It is a good thing to always be in a mode of worship. It edifies our Spirit and maintains that connection to God.
And friends; I can’t stress this enough. I am a big believer that there are people God uses to help us. If you read my previous posts you will know how God has used people to help me spiritually. If you need someone to pray with or study the Word with, just ask God. Trust me, He gives. Done this twice and I have received twice.
As we feed our Spirit Man with edifying things, he is strong enough to fight off evil. With time we begin to see that it is becoming easier to drop bad habits but when nothing goes in, it is starved, the flesh starts to win and we find ourselves easily doing things we know we shouldn’t be doing.
Galatians 5 v 25; “Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit”
May God give us the grace to feed our Spirit with things He approves of. In Jesus name, amen.
