Willing Spirit
I'm still thinking about being willing. In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus warns the disciples.
"Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Mat. 26:41 NKJ
This is a description of the friction that human beings have faced since the arrival of sin in the garden of Eden. The sin nature that seems to dominate our bodies causing us to do the things that our hearts do not want to do.
We all face the struggle of doing what is right and doing what is not. Paul talks about his own difficulties in this area in the book of Romans.
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
Rom. 7:15 NKJ
We want to behave one way, we want to do what is right, but our bodies seem to have a mind of their own and we wind up doing the exact opposite of what we wanted. Confused, by our own behavior and our inability to follow through on our desires, we often give up and quit trying. But God, (I love saying that!) He wants us to keep going in our pursuit of Him.
God does not measure our success on how perfectly we behave but on how willing we are to keep going after Him no matter how many times we fall.
Going back to what Jesus said, prayer is the weapon we can use to achieve victory. Prayer protects us from temptation and strengthens us with the power of God.
Through constant prayer and a determination to keep pursuing God, we will overtime be able to control our sinful nature and grow in godly character.
To live God first requires us to never stop in our pursuit to be more like Christ.
Heidirn
"Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."
Mat. 26:41 NKJ
This is a description of the friction that human beings have faced since the arrival of sin in the garden of Eden. The sin nature that seems to dominate our bodies causing us to do the things that our hearts do not want to do.
We all face the struggle of doing what is right and doing what is not. Paul talks about his own difficulties in this area in the book of Romans.
For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.
Rom. 7:15 NKJ
We want to behave one way, we want to do what is right, but our bodies seem to have a mind of their own and we wind up doing the exact opposite of what we wanted. Confused, by our own behavior and our inability to follow through on our desires, we often give up and quit trying. But God, (I love saying that!) He wants us to keep going in our pursuit of Him.
God does not measure our success on how perfectly we behave but on how willing we are to keep going after Him no matter how many times we fall.
Going back to what Jesus said, prayer is the weapon we can use to achieve victory. Prayer protects us from temptation and strengthens us with the power of God.
Through constant prayer and a determination to keep pursuing God, we will overtime be able to control our sinful nature and grow in godly character.
To live God first requires us to never stop in our pursuit to be more like Christ.
Heidirn
this post makes a good point.
ReplyDeleteas our faith in Him—and his righteousness in us, increases—it becomes easier and easier for us all to overcome and overpower our sinful natures "because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world."(see 1 Jhn 4:4 NKJV) He gave us power to trample the enemy of our souls. And He gave us spiritual weaponry. e.g. prayer, fasting, perseverance, spiritual gifts, etc.