Struggling with Sin

The flesh, the enemy within, dons a friendly uniform, one that a Christian might wear, and suggests reasonable directions. We welcome him into our ranks. When he causes trouble, we try to whip him into shape, get him to cooperate with the program and stop interfering with our efforts to do things right. Or we work hard to figure him out. What makes him tick? Why does he demand gratification that way? Maybe a journey into the past will uncover the source of these crazy tendencies and enable us to reason more effectively with him.

What we need to do, of course, is shoot him . . . And if he doesn't stay dead, we must shoot him again, then beat him, then tie him down in the sand under a hot desert sun, turn loose an army of red ants on his body, and walk away without sympathy. And then we must do it again and again, ‘til we’re home. An overdone metaphor? Not when we see the enemy for who he is, for what he wants to do. We are at war. The enemy within is the flesh, and he wants to ruin our relationships and thwart God's plan.

What am I to kill? The answer, of course, is the flesh, that nature within me inclined to sin. But what is it? How do I recognize it? As a start, think of it this way: sin is any effort to make life work without absolute dependence on God. It is giving higher priority to my satisfaction than to God's pleasure. It involves a follow-up commitment to find joy for my soul outside of God, a commitment rooted in the belief that there is something truly good that God does not provide. It boils down to self-dependence and self-preoccupation and self-centeredness, attitudes that look to other people and things for the satisfaction we were designed to enjoy. (Source)

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^{Note 1} I didn't actually name the source, but gave a link to it because some people might take offense at the source before ever considering the position.

^{Note 2} It is my conviction that there is no source that is unimpeachable. Even Jesus has His naysayers. How much more the humans who are not Jesus? And there are a sufficient number of "Discernment Ministry" types who "have the gift of discernment" sufficient to weed out every single evil person on the planet ... which, as it turns out, is every single person on the planet.

^{Note 3} The point? Read the thoughts. Examine the ideas. Evaluate the position. Don't worry about who said it. Who said it, in this instance, doesn't matter.