Have you ever felt like there was a battle inside you? You want to do what is right and you want to do what is popular. Then you feel like you have to choose between them. Which one wins out? Do you ever feel like the one you want to win doesn’t? We feel totally out of control. Yet we do not want to feel controlled. Why is it that we are afraid to be controlled by God? I think it is because we have a hard time trusting we would like the outcome of His control.
Romans 8:9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) 10 And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. 11 The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.
For us who are in Christ (we have made Jesus our savior and King), the Holy Spirit lives in us. This means you do not fight this battle within on your own, but there is ONE that is greater. The Spirit that took 3 day old dead Jesus and made Him alive again, is the SAME SPIRIT who gives you the power you need to live in victory from your sinful nature.
Now what of the sin that we struggle with even as believers. If we are in Christ, why do we still sin? Great question! It is because salvation happens in a moment, yet is a journey to complete. In Christ, both natures are at war within us. So how does one win out? Is there a way for us to find victory?
If a man has two dogs. These dogs are trained to fight each other. Which one wins? The one you feed.
This is true in battle between our sinful nature and The Spirit within us. The one we feed will win. If we fill our lives with things of this world then our sinful nature will win out. If we fill our lives with God’s word, His presence, and mission he has planned for us then the Spirit will win.
What are you feeding? What is winning the battle within you? Where do you need to go ask the Holy Spirit to help you? GO DO IT!
Recklessly, obsessively following Jesus
Brandon Sereg
