“Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Matthew 26:41
There is an idea propagated by some individuals that is fundamentally absurd. It is this: “You should want to do what is right”.
This idea is foolish and sets individuals up for failure. Even if you were to play along with this thought, you have to answer the question: “what do you mean by ‘You’? Consciousness? Bodily? Spiritually? What part of you should want to do what is right?” I guarantee you that the flesh does not want what is right. The flesh wants what is most likely to perpetuate survival (Food and sex). The conscious mind does not always want what is right, because when infiltrated by the physical need to survive, the conscious mind must make whatever decision is most likely to promote survival. It would be more convenient and conducive to survival for me to steal my neighbors food than for me to go hunt my own.This is the natural law of man.
The moral law of Christ commands that we wrestle against this nature and make decisions that may not benefit our survival.
In essence this means we are not always going to want to do what is right. In fact, it may be very rare for us to actually want to do the right thing, if we fully acknowledge our evil nature. This is a truth as old as the book of Genesis. In the time period before the flood, God examined His creation and saw that all the desires of their hearts were evil continually (Gen 6:5). This is the natural state of man if human nature is allowed to take its course. This is the nature we fight against using our spirit, because flesh and spirit are at war with each other, and that is how it is supposed to be.
The creation of man was two parts. First, God made man from the dust. He made the man of flesh to be temporal, and the body to be carnal and bound by biological drives. Secondly, God breathed life into man. With this breath came consciousness, rational thought and the soul. This is the first and primary distinction between animals who are completely fleshly, temporal and carnal and man who is all those things but additionally has a soul.
The soul is the command center for morality.
The flesh is filled with natural drives for food and sex, and these are taken to excess by human beings. This is interesting, that most animals do not take any pleasures to excess. They have sex in their predetermined times. They eat only what they need. The natural drives of an animal lead them to perfectly satiate themselves only with what is necessary. Man needs to experience more and more pleasure, and pleasure simply for pleasure’s sake, likely as a way to soothe away the sorrow of life.
Man is both flesh and spirit, and each wars with the other.
When someone tells you that you should want to do what is right, they stand in opposition to logic and biology. It would be too easy if we were pre-programmed to want to do what is right. No, God wants us to wage war and fight our natural tendencies tooth and nail and come out on top. He wants us to choose Him over the pleasures of the world. This was not meant to be easy. Choosing God was not supposed to be the most desirable choice from an earthly, fleshly perspective. Our flesh leads us towards sin, because sin is enjoyable and obedience is generally not. Anyone in the church who tells you that obedience is fun or easy is disobedient, endures no real temptation or is a liar.
Mantra
The flesh is evil yet the Spirit endures.
Application
Don’t guilt trip yourself when you desire evil, those days will come, and guilt is useless. All you need to do is successfully obey the Word. You don’t have to feel like it, you do not have to want to do it, you only need to obey.
Reject every individual who pushes some brand of emotionalism on you. You are rarely going to want to do the right thing naturally. You have to program your mind to win and prepare it to take the uncomfortable, undesirable action for the sake of righteousness.
Redirect your natural inclinations towards other disciplines.
Accept the evil of the flesh.
Embolden the righteousness of the soul.
Strengthen your mind to bring the body under subjection.
Discipline yourself.
Be a Man.
Conduct Yourselves Like Men.
Keep Reading! Next : “Challenge“.
