TEXT: ROMANS 7: 18-24
If we talk about daily struggles we can not leave aside the struggle that keeps our spirit with our flesh. The truth is that before when we were without Christ we lived according to the desires of the flesh and in the current of this world. But from the moment we opened our hearts for Jesus to enter into Him, we were freed from the bondage of sin for which we began to perceive the things that are of the Spirit.
Nor am I going to deny that that same moment began what I personally called "Hand-to-hand fight between the flesh and the spirit", but beyond that hand-to-hand fight that you hold daily there must be in us a fervent desire to please God by any means, because He has been wonderful to us.
For that reason I want to focus this issue to the daily struggle that keeps the flesh against our spirit, I know I'm not talking to you in another language and you better than anyone else should know very well what is called the struggle between the flesh and the spirit , but if you still have a doubt then I detail it.
THE MEAT. (Carnality is a way of life in which an essentially destructive attitude prevails.)
So that we can understand this position a bit better, I will try to explain it to you: in a figurative sense we call the flesh the desire to commit sin, we are all definitely attracted to sin, from the beginning of creation the sin was presented to man as a desire to love perform something that goes against what God has stipulated.
If we say that a person walks in the flesh, we refer to his way of life, in a few words giving free rein to his sinful desires and forgetting to please God.
Sin is attractive to the human eye, but detestable to God, that is where what I call "Struggle between the flesh and the Spirit" begins.
THE SPIRIT.
We are all tripartite beings (1 Thessalonians 5:23), that is, we are composed of spirit, soul and body. The spirit is the one that communicates with God, that is, the one who perceives the things that are of God and the one that has the purpose of pleasing him. In opposition to the flesh, spirit is, as a reflection of the grace of God, a force that gives life and protects it. We can contrast the work of the flesh with the fruit of the spirit in the letter to the Galatians.
If we say that a person walks in the spirit, we mean that he walks according to the will of God, not satisfying the desires of the flesh but rather those of the Spirit of God.
FIGHT BETWEEN THE FLESH AND THE SPIRIT.
Now having a better perspective of the flesh and the spirit, I imagine that you know what I mean when I say "Struggle between the flesh and the spirit." On this occasion I want to direct this theme to the most common struggles between young Christians and "Christians".
Among the struggles that the spirit has with the flesh are:
Music: Definitely that our flesh loves the rhythms, someone could say: Why music is bad ?, Music itself is not bad, is more, God created to be praised through this. But the enemy has always wanted to distort God's plans and has oriented man to create music that does not go with the goal of exalting the name of the Lord. Many young people do not approach God and put the excuse of music, saying: "I can not leave music" (referring to the music that the world offers), others have turned away from God when they are attracted by the music that the world offers you. Do you realize that something so easy is stealing the entrance to heaven ?, I do not say that if you listen to worldly music you go to hell, because I am not a judge to judge you, but with authority I can tell you that it is not pleasing to God , because its purpose is not that you support music that is not directed to Him. You know, God has endowed you with strength to resist and overcome the spiritual battle, you can say that you can never stop listening to music that does not praise God, but the truth is that you do not leave it because you do not want to, not because you can not, the Bible says that ALL we can in Christ that strengthens us, will God be a liar?, unquestionably NOT !!, then, why you say you can not ?, it will not be that you do not want ?, examine your heart and give an answer to yourself (a).
Your Vocabulary (Ephesians 4:29): something that we would undoubtedly have to change by giving our hearts to God is our way of speaking, because many of us have come to God's ways with a vulgar vocabulary, from which nothing good came out . Now in Christ we have a daily struggle against those words that are not those of a child of God. If you are a child of God and your vocabulary looks like a garbage dump, then your struggle is being won by the flesh and not by the spirit, you must examine what words are coming out of your mouth and allow God to mold your vocabulary.
Our "Friendships": one of the biggest struggles that are seen among young people are their friendships, because to try to be popular among your group, you forget to please God and begins to perform certain actions that although it is true to please your friends, but they also displease God. The fight is daily, I do not tell you to be a bore, but I do not tell you to tread the Name of Jesus to be good with your friends. Maybe you know that your friendships are sinking spiritually and you do nothing to avoid it.
A young man the other day told me that he felt bad because he has failed God and that perhaps He has already departed from his life, I asked him why he thought that way and he quickly told me: "is that my friends are influencing in me and that is why I have distanced myself from God », then I said:« But why do you continue to frequent them? », and he answered that he could not leave his friendships and that they (his friends) played the pebble and invited him to he and if he said he did not want to be branded as a chicken, and he did not get frowned upon among his friends. Do you realize that your friends can steal your entrance to heaven ?, This is not a simple game, your friends may be influencing you to perform certain acts that go against the will of God. You know very well when your friends are not being blessed, but on the contrary they are damaging your communion with the Lord. What are you waiting for to get away from them? Do not you realize that you are in a struggle between your flesh and your spirit? Without a doubt I assure you that your spirit wants to do God's will, but your flesh is weak and wants to be satisfied .
Other Struggles: there are many more struggles between what the spirit wants to please God and what the flesh wants to be satisfied, in this case we can mention that among other struggles between the flesh and the spirit are: fornication, masturbation , pornography, strong character, the way we dress, the places we frequent, self-esteem, etc.
