Brothers, the toughest fight you’ll ever face won’t happen in a boardroom or a parking lot. It happens inside of you. On one side stands what you know is right, the thing you know you should do. On the other, the pull of the flesh, the thing you know you shouldn’t do — and the enemy makes it look really good. Good enough that you start negotiating. Good enough that you start justifying. Good enough that we do that thing we soon wish we hadn’t. Then comes the aftermath: the guilt, the shame, the eyes you can’t meet at your own dinner table.
It’s never worth it.
Paul knew all about this war. The man who wrote much of the New Testament, and carried the gospel across the Roman world confessed, “For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do” (Romans 7:15). He cried out, “O wretched man that I am!”, nd answered in the same breath: “I thank God — through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25). The flesh and the Spirit are at war, contrary to one another (Galatians 5:17). That struggle doesn’t mean you’re failing. It means the Spirit of God is alive in you.
Know your enemy, and know his tactics. He is a liar (John 8:44), and he comes for three things: to steal, to kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). He prowls like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Your orders are clear: “Be sober, be vigilant… Resist him, steadfast in the faith” (1 Peter 5:8-9). You don’t fight alone — your brothers around the world face the same battle. And the God of all grace will perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you (1 Peter 5:10). And if you follow them you will own the victory. One victory becomes two, and soon defeating temptation becomes routine, and no longer a mountain seemingly impossible to climb.
Willpower breaks. The Spirit doesn’t. Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh (Galatians 5:16).
So today, name the temptation that keeps finding you. When it knocks, don’t negotiate. Call on the Holy Spirit living in you and walk the other way. A man who guards his heart protects his home. This is a battle you can win if you bring God and His word with you into the fight.
Scripture References (NKJV)
- Romans 7:15
- Romans 7:24-25
- Galatians 5:16-17
- John 8:44
- John 10:10
- 1 Peter 5:8-11
