My flesh has a mind of its own, and becoming a Christian does not stop the flow of thoughts coming out of that mind. Sadly, it keeps generating bad attitudes, passions and images as long as I live. The good news is it won't be there after I'm resurrected into my new body. The bad news is I'll have to learn to cope with it and silence its voice day by day and moment by moment for the rest of my life or until Jesus comes again. Facing the prospect of this lifelong struggle Is not pleasant, but if I refuse to acknowledge this truth, I'll never live in the freedom God has promised.

Over and over again in this passage Paul confrasts two minds: the "mind of the flesh" and the "mind of the spirit" and then appeals to us to follow one and warns us of the danger of following the other. In order to do this, I first have to learn to distinguish between the two and recognize which is talking to me at the moment. One always lures me back to slavery and tries to damage whatever or whoever I'm dealing with. The other calls me to draw closer to Him and to listen and trust. When you describe it this way the choice seems easy. Of course I want to follow the mind of the spirit, but in actual practice, it's not easy at all, especially at first. It requires faith. It requires humility. It requires diligence... day by day and moment by moment. And that's hard work until It becomes a habit. But if I accept the responsibility to govern my flesh and consistently redirect the attention of my mind back to the Spirit, then I actually discover God's will for my life, and with it the greatest blessing of all: that everyday I can walk beside Jesus.

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