We all face the struggle of dealing with our flesh. Paul told us in Romans 8:6-7:
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace because the mind of the flesh is hostile towards God, for it is not subject to
Our flesh does not magically vanish when we become believers. Jesus said, ‘The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” The flesh is old, carnal nature. It must be dealt with. Think of it as a weak-willed person in us. Our fallen nature has a side to it that has no character, no resolve, no backbone, and no self-control.
The Bible says in Romans 6:19 that the flesh is a slave to impurity and wantonness, that serves the law of sin and has passions and desires that bring corruption and had its own wisdom which wages war against the soul (Romans 7:25, Galatians 5:24, 6:8, 2 Corinthians 1:12, 1 Peter 2:11, Romans 7:18). It is the flesh that desires and generates immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, and envy, (Galatians 5:19-21). It is the weak willed man.
When I speak of the flesh, or the carnal nature, keep in mind that I am primarily referring to mind set, a way of thinking. It is the insanity which keeps up bound up in sin that we know (when we are in our right minds) is destroying us.
If a person is struggling with a powerful pull of sexual temptation, the conflict between flesh and spirit becomes a relevant issue in life. Paul said in Galatians 5:16,
“Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.“
The key to overcoming life-dominating habits is to walk in the Spirit. I have never seen anyone in sin who was walking in the Spirit. We can not follow God accurately if we don’t crucify our flesh.
You can spend years on a psychologist’s couch or regularly attend support group meetings but if you want to overcome habitual sin, you must learn to walk in the Spirit.
The process is a lifelong battle. Pail said in Galatians 5:17,
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“For the flesh lists against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary to one another, that you may do the things that you desire.”
There is a battle raging inside every believer who wants to please God yet finds that part of them simply wants to indulge in pleasure and sin.
Every day we make choices about which part of us will be in control. We can choose to give in to the flesh, vent our anger towards others, be sarcastic, indulge in sexual thinking, and be wrapped up in ourselves. We can sit in front of a television, listen to carnal music, or we can choose to shield ourselves from the sensualities of the media, control out minds, bridle our tongues, and show kindness to others. Minute by minute throughout our lives, we will face choices about our behavior.
A person does not mature into godliness simply because their salvation experience happened a long time ago. They grow into the likeness of Christ only by daily cooperating with God’s work in their inner being.
This is where a typical believer gets bogged down and discouraged. When it seems that change will never come and they are bound to live in defeat. We must realize that it is not God’s desire for us. While it’s true that one aspect of the Spirit vs flesh occurs in our daily lives, it is equally true that we strive after righteousness, and fight against the desires of flesh, and continue to pursue a course of holiness, which gradually gain ground in us. This process takes time and requires us to diligently cooperate with the Holy Spirit’s work.
If we are sincere in this we will begin to notice that temptation no longer grips us with overpowering power. Our intimacy with God increases, and this helps us to overcome temptation.
This spiritual growth and development is not automatic. A person does not mature into godliness overnight. They grow into holiness by daily cooperating with God’s work.
From Pity to Praise 