Your Flesh and the Enemy are Best Friends
The Apostle Paul wrote: “I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate” (Romans 7:15, NLT). There is a reason why we have to kill our flesh daily; it is because our flesh and the enemy are best friends. The flesh is controlled by the motives of the enemy – lust, anger, greed, pride, and more. Doing the things that we know are wrong or doing things culture tells us is acceptable feel good in the moment, but it separates us from God.
We have to make up in our minds that we choose God – over it all. It doesn’t please our flesh to not entertain attention from others. It doesn’t please our flesh to not eat multiple plates on Thanksgiving. It doesn’t please our flesh to not go off on people who frustrate us or cut off people who have done us wrong. Like Paul said, we know this, but it’s hard to act on it.
God knows this, which is why He sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins. It is why He left His Spirit on the earth to guide us. Galatians 5:16 (NLT) says: “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”
In my short walk with the Lord, I’ve learned that God will not correct something we are not honest about and we do not want to let go. The immediate pleasure we receive after committing sin feels worth it in the moment, but it will destroy us in the long run. Even if we don’t know how to let go of a certain sin, we serve a God who is more powerful than any inclination. There have been multiple times I’ve prayed to God and said, “God, I like doing this, but I know it’s wrong. Help me to not like it. Help me to like what you like and hate what you hate. Destroy any inclination or proclivity I have to things I shouldn’t.” One by one, things I shouldn’t crave have dropped. My taste in entertainment has and is changing. My definition of fun is changing.
Our flesh – those desires we have that is not of God – is out to destroy us. A post I read once said that our flesh won’t be with us in eternity that is why it doesn’t care what we do now. Therefore, we have to commit every day to kill our flesh and to ignore what it wants us to do.
