When I was in college, I offered to help a friend’s family pack up their home for their move. As I was helping to carry furniture out of the house, my friend’s husband noticed that I didn’t have a lot of upper body strength. He nicknamed me “Noodle Arms.” That name stuck with me throughout my life as I have been known to be sort of weak. Like me, you probably played the game Tug of War when you were young. I remember what a struggle it was for me because I didn’t have a lot of strength in my arms… I had to rely on my teammates to carry us over the finish line.
Christians have two natures… this new nature we’re given at salvation doesn’t replace the old nature… it simply is added. Therefore, we have two natures. And our key verse tells us that they are always at war with each other. You have felt the tug. Me too. The apostle Paul often addressed this. Here’s what we need to know… the fleshly nature is VERY strong and wants to win over the spiritual nature. It will fight to the death to win. And… EVERY Christian deals with it. No one is exempt. Paul talks about it at length in Romans 7, where he says, “I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it” (Romans 7:15). Therefore, if the struggle was raging in Paul’s life, then it is in ours too.
But here’s the thing… our spiritual can win. That doesn’t mean though that once it wins, it wins for life. No. This is a process… a lifelong process. So the question becomes… what can we do to let it win? Here are three things:
1) Let the Holy Spirit guide you! Galatians 5:16 says: “Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.” One sure way to let the Holy Spirit guide us is to acknowledge Him every day and ask Him to help us live the way we should.
2) Put to death the sinful nature! Paul writes in Colossians 3:5: “So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you.” Let it die. Bury it. And when it tries to come back to life, kill it again. This is a conscious decision we make every day.
3) Clothe yourselves with the new nature! Paul writes in Colossians 3:12: “Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” In other words, when you get up in the morning, don’t just put on your tangible clothes, but also put on the things of the new nature. Cover your body with them. Again, this is a decision.
Our spiritual nature CAN win. And when it does, everything in our life fares so much better. I might not have enough physical strength to pick up heavy objects, but I CAN build up my spiritual muscles by applying these principles. So can you.