The War in Your Mind

What happens when you tell a child not to do something? They usually want to know why.

I can remember years ago being told not to do a specific thing, but it just made me want to know why. Why can’t I do it? What will happen if I do? 

One time I can remember I was told not to do something, and it only made me want to do it even more. I was once told to not roll big snowballs and roll them onto the street. “But it’s so fun” I told myself. “What harm will come of a few snowballs?” Meanwhile the voice of my parents rang in my mind, not to do it. Unfortunately I fell to the temptation, and did it anyway. It is the rebellious nature in our flesh that causes this. “Don’t do this,” “I’m gonna do it anyway.” I knew I wasn’t supposed to do it, but I did it anyway. 

It is a war in your mind. One side says something is good and okay to do, and the other side says it’s not. You have the Spirit and you have the flesh.

In the garden of Eden, they were told not to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and good and evil. What happened when Eve was tempted by the serpent? She fell to that temptation. She wondered why they couldn’t eat from the tree, because the serpent told her that it was good to eat. The serpent said

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?

And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:

But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.

And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:

For God doth know that in that day ye eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.” Genesis 3:1-6

So you see, she knew that they weren’t to eat of the tree. She said so herself. Yet the serpent convinced her that it was okay to do, and she ate of the tree anyway. She did what she knew she wasn’t supposed to do. 

That is what happens in our mind. Like the cartoon of a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other, our carnal mind fights against the spiritual. We are tempted to do what is wrong and evil, while the Spirit tells us not to. Our carnal mind wants to hit someone back when they hit you, but the Spirit says to love and do good to your enemies. 

Whenever we are tempted, we need to resist it, and overcome those temptations. James wrote, “Submit yourselves therefore to God, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” (4:7)

When times of temptation arise, that is when we are tested.  Will we stand or will we fall? Will we succeed or will we fail? I know with the help of Christ, you will stay strong. 

In Christ,

Andrew