Verse: But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.17 For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you do not do the things that you want. Galatians 5:16-17
As we previously discussed we face a battle on two fronts. One of those fronts is on offense for Christ. We do this by spreading the Gospel and being an apologist for Christ and His word. We share the Gospel with our family, coworkers, and friends yes, but when we are in conversations (say about homosexuality) we speak the truth in Love as we, “tear down speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).
The second front we fight is our flesh and that is where we are going to focus for the next few sections. We must establish and believe that we are the enemies of ourselves. This can be hard to grasp but it is an important point to understand if you want to win in spiritual warfare.
Lest you think that this is purely a point of fighting for the Christian I would like to point out that this is the same in professional soldiers as well. When you graduate basic training and go to your first unit, you are now a soldier. You have your blue cord and cross rifles (just black beret for you no infantry types) and you are proud and full of yourself. But as time goes on you realize that even though your team and squad leader are on you during the day, the imposed discipline starts to go away. You start to be able to do what you want in the evening and weekends and if you are doing the right thing, no one messes with you.
This is where that battle lives, in your mind. You need to become self-disciplined to be the best soldiers you can be. You need to go to the gym on your own time, read books on strategy and tactics (really any books at all are feats for most of you), and or study your craft by tying knots and so on. If you want to be better, you need to fight yourself. This is called complacency. Even in Afghanistan, I had to make a banner that said, “Complacency Kills” because it is a struggle for all of us.
In the sense of spiritual warfare, this war within is our flesh. We have a sinful nature that wants us to lie for ourselves and not for God. We want to give into our sinful desires rather than taking up our cross daily and following Christ (Matthew 16:24). The Christian life is one of denial of selfishness to follow Christ. It is a life that seeks God’s glory, not our own.
Lest you think that because of this there is no joy, you are wrong. Sure after a life filled with destroying yourself with the lusts of your flesh, it will be hard to stop and at times you will want those fleeting feelings back. But when you take off the shackles of slavery to self and put on Christ you will find joy and peace that passes all understanding. And as you are being sanctified you will grow more joyful as you seek Christ. So let us understand our enemy, get to know ourselves.
Written By,
John Cooper Jr.
Godly Grunt 6
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