Flesh Vs Spirit

“For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.”

- Romans 8:13 NKJV

The Dead People Feel Nothing Conundrum. So often while in this flesh we thing it is our bodies we need to feed to stay alive, when in reality, the more we feed our bodies, the more we kill ourselves.We must learn to f\remember that the flesh is really just encasing, the real you, is the spirit.

“So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”

- Genesis 1:27 NKJV

We must always prioritise our spirit, live by it and live for it, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.” (Romans 8:6 NKJV). This is easier said than done, the flesh, like it’s master, the devil, is a chief deceiver. Your flesh does everything to convince you that it is on your side, when in reality it is your enemy, your flesh is out to kill your spirit, and subject you to death. It is why Paul wrote, “…For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.” (Romans 7:15 NKJV).

Now, why do I call this, The Dead People Feel Nothing Conundrum? Because one of the biggest evidences of the flesh is pride. It will often present itself as ‘self love’ or ‘self preservation’, a defence mechanism to protect you simply doing what is best for you. The reality however is if you’re truly dead to self and have killed off the flesh, your higher concern should always be the expression of love to others than your self preservation.

“For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!”

- Galatians 5:13-15 NKJV

The struggle in the battle is how you make sure your spirit defeats your flesh. Noe of the keys to that is the renewal of your mind. That place where you look at the evidences of the flesh and no longer perceive them as a way at which you protect yourself, but instead as things that are out to kill you, make you less of who you are meant to be. But what are the evidences of your flesh?

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

- Galatians 5:19-21 NKJV

But the reality is, you cannot fight of the flesh of your own doing, it is on the Spirit of God within you that has the capacity to overcome the flesh. So your sole aim cannot be to starve the flesh, but to feed the Spirit, or should I say, let the Spirit feed you. Only the Spirit can starve the flesh. In fact, trying to starve the flesh without the Spirit is just another evidence of the flesh. It is the recognised prove for living by the law, trying to keep it in your own strength, when only Jesus was able to do that.

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

- Galatians 5:22-26