I would like to paint a mental picture for you. Are you ready? If you can, for a moment, imagine you are about to begin a game of tug of war. Now in your mind, look down at your feet; you see one end of a rope. You reach down to pick it up and begin to pull on it, only to be met with great resistance from the opposing side. As you start to pull, your hands begin to sting, and you realize it is taking every ounce of strength just to stay on your feet. You are beginning to lose your grip against the strength of the opponent that is trying to overtake you. You begin to wonder, “who is this that seems so strong and why are they so determined to beat me?” Yet you know that you cannot give up, so you continue to pull.
Now, let’s step back a minute and think about this scenario. Ask yourself, “what exactly is happening in this scene?” “Is this a battle against some bully in my past or is this something I’m facing in the present ?” I believe we can find the answer to these questions in Galatians 5:16-17.
“16 I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.”
You see, we are constantly in a “tug of war,” a war between the spirit and the flesh.
If you are a follower of Christ, meaning one who has repented and put your faith and trust in Christ alone for salvation; then the Holy Spirit lives in you. Yet realize there is still a pull from the things of this world (the flesh) to war against you. Galatians 5:19-21a list the evidence of the flesh.
“19 Now the works of the flesh are obvious:sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, 21 envy,drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar.”
At the beginning of reading this, you were probably thinking that this list did not apply to you. But then, gradually, you begin to see that your attitude can sometimes reflect these fleshly attributes. As you read this, you might feel defeated, thinking, “how can I ever escape and overcome all these challenges?”
Well, Colossians has some answers for a battle plan against these fleshly attitudes that war against us. Let’s take a look.
“3 So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.” Colossians 3:1-3
You see, when we set our minds on Jesus and the strength He provides, we are then instructed in this way:
“5 Therefore, put to death what belongs to your worldly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, God’s wrath comes on the disobedient, 7 and you once walked in these things when you were living in them. 8 But now you must also put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. 9 Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator.” Colossians 3:5-10
Thanks be to God that when we put our minds on Him, He, through the power of the Holy Spirit, is renewing us. When we choose to “put away the flesh” and desire to die to self. We then allow God to have His rightful place in our lives, and through this, we allow the Holy Spirit to overcome the war of the flesh. When we have this as a daily practice, we see the evidence and the power of Christ at work in our lives.
“24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24
The only way to win the “tug of war “ against the flesh is to look to Christ Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us each day in the ways we should go. Letting Him have the rope because He will always win the war!
Then the evidence of this in our lives will be:
“22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, 23 gentleness, self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23a
Amanda Patterson
Lean into Jesus Ministries
#amandapattersonblogs