Most Beloved Savior, since the beginning of time there has been a war going on between the body and the soul. That struggle goes on to this day. In the very beginning, the Devil tempted Adam and Eve by getting them to doubt Your goodness and wanting to know everything You knew. When they bore two sons, they came to give You honor by giving You the first fruits of their labor. Cain killed his brother because of jealousy over Abel’s gift pleasing You more than his. Before You started Your ministry, You were led into the desert for 40 days of fasting and to be tempted by the Devil. He tried to play on Your humanness by focusing on Your hunger, then asking You to prove who You were and eventually offering You the world and all of its splendor. In each test, You responded with Your knowledge of the Scriptures in resisting the Devil. To win my battles, I must count on Your might and the wisdom in Your words.
Because of the fallen state of my body, resulting from sin, it strives to fulfill a selfish desire for self-gratification. On the other hand, the desire of the soul is to please You and do unselfish things. This why I always find myself in conflict between these two forces. I believe that Paul, through the Holy Spirit’s inspiration, explained how the victory would be attained when he said: “Do not be conformed any longer to the pattern of the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is God’s will.” You want me to be transformed with a renewed mind dedicated to honoring and obeying You. Because You only want what is best for me, I must be willing to cooperate through personal sacrifices and service. Through reading and meditating on Your Word, I know my thinking will be transformed through reeducation and redirection of my efforts for You.
By focusing on the war between my body and my soul, I am not condemning my body … only its struggle with the spirit within me. The truth is that I am a hybrid of body and soul. My body (because of sin) wants to do things the easy way and gratify my flesh. My spirit, in turn, wants to tackle tough things head on and do what is good. Paul did a good job of describing my struggles when he wrote “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do I keep doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who does it, but the sin living in me that does it.” Not to be forgotten is the fact that (through the gift of choice) I am responsible for my decisions. What I understand is that both my body and soul are marvelously made by You. To show the beauty of the hybrid body and soul You gave me I must become obedient and conformed to You will. And it’s in Jesus’ name I pray. AMEN!!
III John 1:11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God.