Fighting against it

Have you ever had one of those days when it seems as if you are constantly fighting with and against yourself? For me, those battles almost always rage around my own selfishness. Many people much smarter than I could ever dream of being have claimed that pride is the root of all our sinful struggles and I couldn't agree more. When I do struggle - whether it's with selfishness, greed, envy, impatience, etc. - pride is pretty much at the root of all those things.

I can remember being a kid arguing with my parents about getting my own way, whether it was going out with my friends on the weekend or having the same kind of clothes that everyone else was wearing. Even when they laid the hammer down on me, I was still scheming on how I could get what I was after. Now that I am grown and a father of four kids, I see these same kinds of tendencies in my own children and I can appreciate all the more how tough it was at times for my own parents.

It is so easy to fight against God's will for our lives. When I talk about God's will I'm not referring to where you will work one day or who you will marry, but rather God's desire for your lives every single day. That desire is no less than for you to be holy and set apart just as God is holy and set apart (1 Thessalonians 4:3). When I am under attack in my thoughts and desires, I have to fight back. My holiness depends on it.

So how do we fight? In the Bible we find all the ammunition we need to kick Satan's butt when he seeks to stir up pride and rebellion in our lives. Consider some of these verses that we need to remember during times of spiritual attack:

Romans 6:6 "For we know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that sin's dominion over the body may be abolished, so that we may no longer be enslaved to sin."

James 4:7 "Therefore, submit to God. But resist the Devil, and he will flee from you."

I love that verse from James. It reminds us that in order for us to be able to kick the Devil where it counts we must first be submitted to God in all things. It's like a replacement principle, where you replace the old things with newer and better things. I just upgraded to a Mac computer and I absolutely love it. For the best several weeks I have been moving files and photos over from my PC to my Mac to make the transition. I'm at the point now where I don't even use my PC anymore because it doesn't offer me nearly as much as my Mac plus all the important files and pictures are now on my new computer. I've replaced the old with the new.

I am constantly reminded that as I seek God with every fiber of my being the enemy will fight all that much harder against me. And if he's gonna pick a fight with me then by all means, I need to fight back. And why wouldn't I (or you for that matter) since we have the precious promise that "if God is for us, who is against us?" (Romans 8:31). Don't sit there, fight back!