WITHHOLD FUEL FROM THE FLESH

DAY 300

Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot do what is good.

I have a desire, born from my spirit to do good. But my members, my flesh have no intention to execute them. Thus, we identify an ongoing battle. Paul puts it this way “For the flesh craves what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are opposed to each other, so that you do not do what you want”(Gal 5:17)

Every man is a spirit, with a soul that lives in a body. Each of these dimensions can lead the man. The Spirit is our link to God, and the soul: our intellect, will and emotions. A spirit-led man follows the ways of God, a soul-led man is obedient solely to his own emotions and logic, and a flesh-led man is slave to his lusts and appetites.

Therefore, in his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul sets for himself a definite goal ‘That he will not become disqualified even after he has preached’. To attain this, he makes up his mind to ‘beat his body into submission'(9:27). So that the flesh is weakened in its war against the Spirit since it is starved of the fuel and resources required for battle. Then the Spirit leads.

In this ongoing war, to keep the flesh from becoming louder than the Spirit, we have to intentionally withhold fuel from the flesh and rather keep refueling our Spirit. Let us continue, therefore, in prayer and in our study of the word of God.

#sly