Am I in control of my body?
by Paul ~ August 21st, 2010. Filed under: Paul.Whenever Luke starts getting stinkery and rebellious, chances are that he’s got a fresh one in his diaper. For whatever reason, rather than telling us about it he just starts getting demanding and angry and quickly runs into sin.
As I was thinking about it, I realized I do this as well. Just last week I was feeling agitated and realize I’m just kind of thirsty. Or are times I’m hungry, hot, tired, full, sick, horny, over-caffeinated, or sore and it makes me angry, combative, worrisome, or abrasive. It is so amazing how such physical feelings, even ones that are not really that strong, can overpower my whole disposition and cause me to do things I would not want to do otherwise.
This is a clear demonstration of the battle of living by the Spirit and living by the flesh, which Paul talks about in many of his letters. Paul tells us:
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. (Galatians 5:16-17)
Often our flesh starts out with these small desires, but it builds on those small bodily urges to incite us into deeper sin. And Paul tells us what the result of indulging in those feelings is:
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. (Galatians 5:19)
Paul tells us that we are to walk by the Spirit rather than the flesh. This means our whole self – body, mind, soul – is not “resting” on our physical or emotional state but is resting on the Rock that is Christ. Paul tells us what the result of that is:
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:22)
But note the solution: crucifying the flesh with its passions. This is not simply recognizing “oh, I get angry when I am hungry, so I’ll just be sure I eat before that happens”. That might seem to work, but the flesh will just pop out in another way. Instead, it means we do not allow these fleshy desires control us, change our mood, or incite us to sin but rather let their control over us die. In this way, we continue to be satisfied in God in everything rather than finding our satisfaction in something else.