One of the unfortunate things about life in this wicked world is the fight that we as Christians face daily between our flesh and our desire to please God. Paul wrote about this in his letter to the church at Rome, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15)
The story is told of an old indian chief who had come to know Jesus Christ as his Savior. And like all Christians, he had begun to experience the daily fight with his flesh to keep living the way he had before. The indian chief was talking with a missionary about what he was experiencing, and he said, “It’s like there are two dogs living inside of me. A good dog, and a bad dog, and they are always fighting.” “Which one wins?” asked the missionary? And the indian chief thought for a moment and then replied, “The one I feed the most.”
That is the way it is in our lives. If we continue to feed our flesh and make provision for the flesh, then the flesh is going to win every time. However, if we STOP feeding our flesh and place our focus daily upon pleasing God, reading His Word, and talking with Him in prayer – then we’ll have the power we need to win the daily battles we face with our old sinful nature.
Paul knew the battles we face daily, he also faced them. And he said in Romans 13:14, “But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.”
STOP doing what the flesh wants to do, stop making provision for it, and START making provision to please God and follow Him.
Yes, it’s a DAILY battle. But, like that old indian chief said, the outcome is based on what we feed upon.