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In church culture, we hear the word, “flesh” quite often.  This word “flesh” invokes a variety of metaphors vividly describing what should be done to this “flesh”.  

We are told to kill the flesh, crucify the flesh, resist the flesh.  Every single metaphor accurately points us in one direction.  We are to war against the flesh because plainly put, the flesh is bad news.  

Despite this message being echoed in churches all around the world, many people still are at war with the flesh and find themselves losing these flesh wars more than winning. 

As your friend, I’m here to make one big announcement.  

Contrary to how difficult it seems, you can conquer, kill, and deny the desires of your flesh. 

Starting now!

What Is The Flesh?

In a literal sense, the flesh is our physical body. You know…skin, muscle, all that science stuff.  But that’s not the flesh the Bible or your local pastor is referring to.  The flesh we are talking about is the sinful nature.  

It is the part of us that constantly wants to do what we feel and disobey God. The piece of us that knows it is wrong but still pursues wrong. 

Before salvation or committing your life to Jesus, the flesh rules our lives. We just do not have the tools to resist it.  It’s natural. 

Even as children. Like me!

Similar to most little young girls, I admired my mother immensely. Around the age of 6, I wanted to dress like her, wear her shoes, replicate her make-up and hairstyles.  

One day my curiosity peaked.  I wanted to learn how to operate and use the curling iron.  Naturally, my mother warned me not to touch the hot iron even though it was not plugged in because of course, I would get burned.  

My child-like logic told me, “That’s impossible. The iron is not plugged in.  There is no way it would still be hot.”

My mother insisted, “Do not touch that.” I argued with her and eventually touched the iron only to be burned.  Ouch! Talk about learning the hard way. 

Looking back, I wonder, what made me so rebellious? 

Why was I insisting on disobeying the one person that always took care of me and knew best?  Why was I so stubborn? 

Well because of flesh.  The part of us that will always seek to be disobedient. 

At salvation, however the narrative of this story of the flesh and spirit changes. When anyone gives their life to Jesus, the Holy Spirit (which is the Spirit of God) comes to live on the inside of them. With this indwelling, we are no longer spiritually dead (separated from God).  

The good news does not stop there, not by a long shot. 

Through our reconnection with God, The Holy Spirit now empowers us to war against the flesh and win. The Holy Spirit is our secret weapon. 

Are you excited yet? All of this means you do not have to be ruled by the flesh. With Gods Spirit, you have what you need to resist.  

Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, you have no obligation to do what your sinful nature urges you to do.

Romans 8:12 (NLT)

Denying The Flesh & Strengthening The Spirit 

The world as we know it has hooked us on convenience and thus instant gratification.  Amazon delivers packages straight to our doors. Uber eats allows us to eat what we want wherever we are.  All of our wants are almost instantaneous like the flip of a light switch.  

Somehow, I believe many have been spoiled to believe this is just the way life works. 

However, strengthening the Spirit within you is anything but instantaneous. Since you have been living according to the desires of the flesh for years and in some cases decades, the flesh and its desires have become rooted in your everyday living.  

Unfortunately, those desires do not just go away.  They are constantly pulsing on the inside of you until you practice denying the flesh and strengthen the spirit. 

For instance…

You will not kill the desire to have sex by continuing to have sex or indulge in sexual content (movies, books, conversations). The same goes for the desire to lie, steal, or gossip. 

The Spirit and flesh are opposites and constantly at war. The only way to win your flesh wars is to strengthen the Spirit and do the hard work associated with denying (weakening) your flesh.

Why Deny The Flesh? 

Well, you don’t want to get burned by a curling iron like I did ??? . Okay seriously. 

Following the flesh only leads to one destination. Death. I’m not talking about physical death, because we will all die physically. I’m referring to spiritual death (separation from God or backsliding) and the decay that comes along with that. Spiritual death or separation from God only has two ends:

1. A Deeper Spiral Into Sin

This may be an intense example but bare with my dramatic self ?? . I am a recovered “Criminal Minds” addict. I could probably join the BAU if it existed in real life.  

There is one telltale sign that is associated with most sociopath serial killers.  These serial killers started out harming and torturing animals. They enjoyed taking life on this level.  When they became tired and bored with torturing animals, eventually they moved on to killing humans.  

It started with one human, then two humans, up until they are finally caught having been responsible for numerous death. What causes this? 

Sin is progressive and never satisfied. How many times have you promised yourself, “This is the last time?”. 

Unless stopped,  the desire will grow and grow and grow. As you continue to obey those desires the deeper you will find yourself caught up in doing all the wrong things and thus experiences the consequences of it. 

2. Experiencing the Harvest of the Flesh

Nature tells us this principle is true. You will reap what you sow. If you sow to the flesh (sin), then you get the rewards of the flesh. Which in addition to spiritual death is being robbed of the life God has for you to live right here on earth. A life of abundance and peace.  

Following after the flesh is a breeding ground for a life of dysfunction. Bad habits, unhappiness, broken families, disorder, just to name a few. 

However, when we sow to the Spirit, we are guided into a different life.  We reap a harvest of a life of peace. 

So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.

Romans 8:6 (NLT)

How To Deny the Flesh

There is no 1,2,3, step formula for denying the flesh.  Still, there are basic principles that are essential to guide you into your specific journey of strengthening your spirit and denying the flesh. 

Read Your Bible Consistently

There is absolutely no way around this.  The Bible is not your ordinary book.  It is powerful and sharper than any weapon you can think of (Hebrews 4:12). Inside those pages is God’s truth which has the power to renew your mind.

Before becoming a person who read my Bible consistently, there were many habits in my life I saw nothing wrong with. Habits like having an attitude with others or being quick to anger.  After spending time reading the Word, I realized how steeped I was in the works of the flesh. 

Once God’s truth was illuminated, I now became stirred to do better and deny my flesh. 

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not always easy. But ya girl is out here every day working out her salvation with fear and trembling. 

Obeying

Notice in the above example I did not say I just read the Bible. I had to be an active participant in my deliverance (breaking cycles) and you do too.  You will have to be obedient to God.

Warning….Obedience does not mean that you will always understand the instructions given to you.  God may be instructing you to let a relationship go, however on the outside, that relationship seems perfect to you. 

What you may not understand at the time is God knows that person’s heart and life. That heart or the trajectory of that life simply does not match where God is taking you. This is where you will have to trust God above your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

The more you are obedient to God, the more you will desire to walk after His spirit rather than the flesh. It will also become easier when denying the flesh.

Resisting

One day, I was tossing to and fro with God about my past struggle with being quick to anger and sinning. I’m sorry to admit but your girl had a tendency to pop off.  While I experienced deliverance in several areas of my life quickly, this one was tough for me. 

In my moment of sulking because I fell once again, I felt the Holy Spirit say something to the effect of, “Why don’t you starve it?”. The solution was simple. I needed to resist anger because once I fell into it, because of my weakness, I could not control the sin following my anger.  

I worked on a strategy of how to resist anger altogether.  

This strategy included: 

• Staying quiet when I wanted to speak. 
• Cutting conversations I knew would lead to anger.
• Reading over scriptures about patience to renew my heart. 
• Crying out to God in prayer.

The change did not happen overnight, yet the more I resisted anger and temptation, the more the desire to be angry went away.  Now I’m still humans and can get angry like anyone else, however, I am much slower to anger because I have lost that desire to be angry. 

Human starvation does not happen in 1 minute or 1 hour, rather it is a slow process that eventually results in death.  This is the same as starving the flesh and its desires.  Each time you are denying the flesh, you are killing the desire a little bit. With consistency, soon enough you will look up and find that desire is dead. 

Perfect Does Not Exist

I want to help you out.  There is no such thing as perfect.  As you experience flesh wars, you will make mistakes and you will not get it right every single time.  

However, the enemy is petrified of a believer who does not stay down or give up.  If you fell down and did not deny your flesh in an area, keep getting back up. 

Repent, ask God to renew your heart, keep feeding your spirit, and try again.  For as long as you do not give up, with God’s grace, you will fall less and less until falling in that particular area is not an option. 

With God, even if you lose some battles, you can and will win the war! 

Until Next Time, 

Be Strong, Be Courageous, Serve God Wholeheartedly.

Gilberta Thompson