The Battle Within
There is an old, Native American proverb that talks about a battle that goes on inside every person. It is a battle between two ‘wolves’. One is evil. It represents anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It represents joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The wolf that ends up winning the battle within each person, is the wolf that each individual ‘feeds’ the most. In the same way, within every believer, there is an an onging battle between the Holy Spirit and the flesh. Just as it is in the proverb about the ‘wolves’, the winner of this battle is determined by which one each of us chooses to feed.
Each day, we are faced with the temptation to satisfy our flesh and go outside the boundaries of God�s perfect will. There are many things we do to try and improve our life here on Earth, some we know are wrong and some may seem right (Proverbs 14:12). However, the more we focus on ourselves and our Earthly desires the more we feed our flesh and the less sensitive we become to the Holy Spirit. Even the apostle Paul struggled with doing things he knew he shouldn’t be doing (Romans 7:21-25). Nobody’s perfect, but thankfully Jesus is, and because of His sacrifice on the cross we have been given the precious gift of the Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength to deny the cravings of the flesh (Romans 8:1-17).
When we walk in step with the Holy Spirit, He guides us into all truth, convicts us of our sin when we fall, and empowers us to obey God and to overcome temptation when it tries to overwhelm us. In order to walk in step with the Holy Spirit though, we have to die to our flesh. By doing this, the desires of our flesh are no longer the reason for one’s existence. As such, we are no longer concerned with “our own will or happiness,” because we are no longer the center of our universe. Our whole life is devoted to living for God and doing what He has us on this earth to do. This may sound radical, because it goes against a lot of what the world tells us. The world expects us to be self-centered. But the Bible shows us that God desires us all to live lives of service, sacrifice, and obedience to Him. By doing this we will experience the real victory and joy that comes from sacrificial service. Dying to our flesh. Living for God.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you a free from the law of sin and death. -Romans 8:1-2
