If I wish to restrain the flesh as God commands, I am being foolish to feed it.
Galatians 6:7-8 "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."
We have to exercise self-denial by saying not to the promptings of the flesh and to the pull to feed the flesh which makes it stronger. To realize that every time we give into the flesh we have made it stronger. Every time we feed it in one area of life, we make it harder to say no to it in any area. It's pulls and control becomes louder and stronger. Most of us Christians forget we don't have to obey the flesh.
It's most puzzling in Christian circles today. Following the world's decline, many believers have the idea that restraint, self-denial and discipline are out-of-date. In the name of "Christian liberty," they indulge in all sorts of flesh-feeding activities, scoffing at the idea that any behavior could be considered "worldly" while at the same time claiming a new freedom in Christ. The final result is destruction. God promised that it would be in Galatians.
The effects of this world may not concern some believers but God is concerned because He say "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. --1John 2:15-17
The more corrupt our culture becomes, the greater the need for personal separation from the world--not by isolating ourselves from the world but rather insulating ourselves from it's toxic, fleshly effect upon us.
The more corrupt our culture becomes, the greater the need for personal separation from the world--not by isolating ourselves from the world but rather insulating ourselves from it's toxic, fleshly effect upon us.
For me, I know the flesh is always with me. So I must realize self-denial is always needed because the danger is always present. LORD, help me!
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