Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde:
Galatians 5:16-18“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
The battle of good and evil rages on in the world. The spirit is the good, and sin is the evil. The dueling sides that we struggle with can be seen battling inside each and every one of us. I recently heard and old Cherokee proverb of two wolves.
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.
“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Of course as I often use pop culture references, I would like to point out the DC character Two Face. Two Face is a split personality. He lives with a physical representation of the battle inside. Batman Forever has the representation of the Angel side, and the Devil side. When sin wins for those who follow Christ, they should feel the conviction of that sin, and thus feel guilty for their sinful behavior. This doesn’t always happen however, and with no one to be held accountable to, often times, sin builds upon itself until you are crushed under the weight of your own choices. Of course another reference for this is Dr. Jekyll, and Mr. Hyde. A serum which caused the transformation from a good man, to a sadistic killer, was the premise to the book written by Robert Louis Stevenson. While we don’t need a serum to cause the demons to come out, we can see how quickly one wrong sinful act can turn a loving spouse to an adulterer. We have seen good men turn cold, and turn cruel overnight. Sin is the serum in which we consume without thought of what it might turn us into.
Every day of our lives we are under the constant attack, and we make choices, which lead and dictate our very path. How we choose to handle each decision is a testament to our witness in Christ. Are we allowing ourselves to sin freely with no worry of the wake left behind by that sin? We have the ability to fight the battle waging on inside each and every one of us. It’s not easy taking every choice and holding it to biblical scrutiny, but that’s exactly what we need to do to stay on the right path with God. Living in the world of sin is difficult for those who try to live in Christ. There are millions of different flavors of sin, and more ways then ever to indulge in sinful activities. Every day the shield of faith is peppered with the sinful arrows from the Devil. Every day we are under attack and some times a few of those arrows slip through and hit us right in the heart. I’ve watched people fall victim to temptations of the flesh and destroy everything they worked hard for. In our lives we must be cautious of the worlds choices and the worldviews. With so many ways to fall under the sin bus, we need to be always vigilant. We must push back that inner Devil voice that’s sitting on our shoulder whispering the lies in our ears.
In John 8 Jesus is teaching at the Temple. The Pharisees confront him and they attack his teachings as they had done before. Jesus responds that they are slaves to their father, and they are fathered to the world, which is in Sin, that they would remain in that sin unless they changed their position. They argued that they were sons of Abraham, but Jesus condemned their words. John 8:40-44 “40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Christ knew they were conspiring to put him to death. He prophesized his own death in front of every, and he proclaimed that those who do not seek Him as son of the father, would surely remain slaves to the sin, and would not follow him to Heaven.
We all struggle with our duality because it’s the nature of living in a sinful world. Just because we are sinners, doesn’t mean we don’t have a choice on our sinful decisions. While we won’t always get it right, we must seek God first, and always ask for forgiveness of our failings, and seek to be repentant in our days after sin. It’s not an easy walk following Christ, but we must keep up our shield and defend against the lies of the Devil. We must remain vigilant and never become complacent. As the old Marine saying goes, ‘complacency kills,’ and it does. Always keep up the fight, and resist the million flavors of temptations that surround you every day. It may seem like the odds are always staked against you, but “If God is for you, then who shall be against you?” Let God be on the move in your life, and keep your heart open. Stay away from the duality of the struggle between good and evil, and just kick the evil out. Follow Christ so that the body feels repugnant of Sin. Be convicted in your walk, and stand fast, stand your ground, and dig your armored cleats into the dirt and hold that line. Tell the Devil the line has been drawn in the sand and “The line must be drawn here, this far, no farther.” (Captain Picard)
Resources:
http://www.virtuesforlife.com/two-wolves/
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The Arrow Preacher 