A Walk of Life
As Christians, we have two natures at war within us—the spirit and the flesh. “The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish” (Galatians 5:17). The carnal, or physical, desires of the flesh want to be satisfied selfishly. However, the spirit strives to be pure, do God’s will, and obey His commandments. The latter is the higher nature we should aim to please. Peter and other New Testament writers speak about this war between the spirit and the flesh.
In Romans 8, Paul is encouraging Christians to walk after our spiritual natures and not our fleshly desires. He describes this difficult battle in Romans 7: “I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do”. There is a simple, but not always easy, solution to this dilemma.
Here is a crude but effective illustration. Imagine you have two dogs of the same breed. You feed one of your dogs the very best dog food, and you pet and groom him for attention, take him out for walks, and provide plenty of fresh water and rest. But the other dog you chain to a post, don’t provide food, water, exercise, or attention at any time. Now imagine releasing the two dogs in the same area. Eventually, they’ll do battle for the territory. Who will win? It’s easy to guess that the dog that is well nourished and exercised will conquer the starved animal.
It’s the same with the battle between our two natures. The way you win the battle is decided by which nature you feed. If you feed the spirit by reading God’s Word, praying, fellow-shipping, and sharing your faith, you will strengthen your spiritual nature and make more room for the Holy Spirit.
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As we work toward strengthening our spiritual nature, we need to keep our focus on the things of God. “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit” (Romans 8:5). Furthermore, there are certain pitfalls to avoid. Whenever we choose to feed our fleshly nature with worldly amusements and sensual gratification, for instance, our carnal nature will be on the throne and our spirit will lose the battle.
The devil uses worldly reading materials, music, television, and movies, often disguising them as “family entertainment,” to tempt us and numb our spiritual sensors. But these instant satisfactions have potentially terrible eternal consequences. They will make your spiritual muscles limp and weak. Remember, when temptation comes, whatever side we have strengthened will win the battle. This is literally a life-and-death struggle, “for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).
The good news is that if we put our trust in Him, the Lord will make sure we succeed in this effort. He promises to strengthen us. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13). He reminds us that He is “able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20). And He assures us that we can triumph through His power. “Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Every day, we’re making a series of little decisions to walk after the flesh or after the spirit. Pray daily, even hourly, for God’s protection and always be mindful when investing time and resources in worldly amusements. Real satisfaction is found in the Prince of Peace, not in empty worldly pleasures.
To focus on problems makes us loose our faith in Jesus.
We need to turn our eyes on Him to see His wonderful face.
What a failure if we have eyes but cannot see.
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The angels of heaven do not come to the earth to rule, and to exact homage, but as messengers of mercy, to co-operate with men in uplifting humanity. (Desire of Ages, p. 551)
Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.