Starve the flesh

IWM Devotion: Starve the flesh
Key Scripture: Galatians 5:24: "And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires."

Word For Today

We’ve all had those moments where we find ourselves mindlessly scrolling through our phones, opening the fridge for the third time out of boredom, or snapping at someone we love, even as a voice in our head whispers, "Stop." Starving the flesh is the spiritual practice of intentionally depriving your carnal nature, those sinful desires, impulses, and worldly habits, of the "fuel" they need to dominate your life. It is a spiritual war for the control of your will. 

Apostle Paul captures this struggle perfectly in Romans 7:15, where he admits: "For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." This conflict usually happens when we aren't paying attention. If we aren't careful, we find ourselves acting on thoughts we know we shouldn't entertain. It’s like feeding the wrong appetite; if you spend your entire day buried in your phone, you simply aren't going to grow spiritually. Or perhaps you said "yes" to an outing even though you knew the environment wasn't right for you. We cannot expect to find the right things in the wrong places.

Starving the flesh is a great responsibility, but we must never forget that we cannot do it on our own. We must yield to a higher power, God. Your flesh must be subject to your spirit, but we will dive deeper into that next time.

For today, make a conscious choice, do not do what you know will not help you or make God proud.