Many modern parenting counselors say you shouldn't punish your children, but rather let them suffer the natural consequences of their 'negative' behaviour or decisions. Well, I'm not going to get into what I think of their advice and it's impact on the children of today, but I did find that sometimes letting kids face the consequences was a good learning lesson for them. Don't want to wear that winter coat in freezing weather, guess you'll soon be freezing. Don't want to play nice with your toy, now it's broken and too dangerous to play with. Act nasty to your friend, well, now he doesn't want to play with you.
The Lord is clearly pointing out to me how I often make specific choices that have natural consequences that I don't want in my life, especially in one particular area: the area of the flesh. You see, He wants me to know I have a decision to make, one that entails many smaller decisions daily: do I truly want to live by the Spirit, because if I do want more than anything to live by the Spirit, then I must choose the things daily (Lk. 9:23) that deny the flesh.
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will never fulfill the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh wants is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit wants is opposed to the flesh...
Gl 5:16,17 ISV
But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Gl. 5:24,25
For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Rm. 8:13
But those belonging to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Gl. 5:24,25
For if you live according to the flesh, you shall die. But if you through the Spirit mortify the deeds of the body, you shall live. Rm. 8:13
For example- in my life this means not watching tv. I can watch tv, but it doesn't feed my spirit or help me grow in godliness, rather, it feeds my fleshly desires: basically of putting my pleasures above all else in life. Now, I can choose to watch one show, but that is time I forever lose to feed my Spirit in prayer, the Word, or in His presence.
I can choose to read that woodworking magazine or novel just for pleasure, or spend time with the Lord. I can spend half an hour making a visually appealing lunch, or grab something healthy and spend the extra time in the Word. See, I've spent most of my Christian life fitting God into my plans, my desires and my dreams only to realize that true peace, joy, life and fulfillment can only be found when I give all these things, really my whole life, into God's control.
So now when my body says "Cookies!!!" I ask myself, do I need cookies or am I feeding my flesh by giving in to my fleshly desires. When I watch that tv show by myself just to vegitate, is it causing growth in my spirit or my flesh, because if it's my flesh but I want my spirit to grow, then why would I choose to watch it. When I listen to music is it just to tune out the silence, a distraction from life, or is there a God connection there?
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| Spirit and flesh oppose each other. |
Though we think of the following verse in terms of God and the devil, in reality, it can also mean our flesh, "No one can serve two masters. For either he will hate the one and love the other..." (Mt. 6:24) We cannot continually serve our flesh (and expect that we will spiritually grow or live in the Spirit) or we are loving our own desires above God and therefore 'hating' God. Denying the flesh is no easy thing, but I think in North America, we are so used to giving in to the flesh so often we no longer even realize we are doing it. So...
Does that mean we can't do anything for fun, to relax or just for pleasure? Who says we can't have fun, relax or find pleasure in the things of God, things which promote the Spirit, our spirit and spiritual growth?
Funny how we don't think that way, isn't it...