Feed Me!

Some things are better left unfed. My daughter has a guinea pig. If she didn’t feed it, I can’t say I would miss the smelly creature if it… eh-hem… perished. However, she continues to feed it, and it continues to live and stink up the entirety of our school room. I do not like that pig, but it must be fed.

Our flesh is like an animal. It needs to be fed to thrive. The more we feed it, it grows and thrives. Our flesh desires things… worldly things. It desires sin and relishes in it when we feed it with our inconsistent behavior. Before we know it, our flesh can be a fat, over-fed pig stinking up our lives and everyone else’s.  But, God does not desire that for us. See, the flesh is supposed to weak in comparison to the spirit. The spirit rushes in and floods our lives. It draws us toward spiritual growth and gives us discernment with the weaknesses in the flesh. So, why is it then that we continue to struggle with our fleshly desires? Well, the spirit, too, requires good feeding.

Our spirituality is like a muscle. When we work it out, when we live it, it gets stronger. It gets strong enough to fight the ghastly flesh. Our spirits need to be cultivated with the Word of God. When we fellowship with other believers, when we walk in the counsel of men who are Godly, we water our thirsty spirit. We can exercise our spiritual muscle by following God in obedience.  Learning He is faithful, we have some reliable memories to draw from. We build relationship with our Creator, and spend time with Him in prayer and stillness. It is then, by the power of the Spirit, flesh can be combated. (Romans 12:21)

So, is the flesh or the Spirit being fed in your life? What do you spend your day thinking about? If your cluttered mind is full of a busy schedule, your flesh is being fed. If you have a pet sin, that is nowhere near as wretched as your neighbors, you are feeding your flesh. If you can’t wait to talk about the latest news about someone else you heard, your flesh is so happy and fed! But, filling our minds with things that are good and holy and of God, meeting and encouraging others in the faith, and spending time with the one true God, builds the only weapon we have against self-destructing flesh. So, what will you feed today?

“So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.” ~ Galatians 5:16-17