If you step back and survey the body of Christ collectively, it is quite apparent that believers are primarily dominated by their flesh. The way we walk, talk, eat, sleep, dress, spend money, and conduct our personal affairs is done without a great deal of internal government. If body control was not a valid concern, then the apostle Paul was nothing more than an overly excessive individual…
I Cor. 9:27 (KJV)
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.
YOUR BODY WANTS TO RULE AND CORRUPT YOUR LIFE AND YOUR WORK FOR THE LORD.
Is your body your master or your servant?
Are you dominated by your passions, or the gospel of Jesus Christ?
How much of what you do or don’t do on a daily basis is dictated
by your flesh?
Does the Spirit control your life, or does your body command all your
choices?
What we learn here is that the apostle Paul considers his body an enemy with which he must contend. He was devoted to making his body a slave to his soul, not his soul a slave to his body. Paul was rigid; he used great severity upon himself. He fought hard against that which blocked his running the Christian race set before him. Using self-denial and strict effort, Paul kept his body down, because if pampered, our flesh is apt to rise and rebel! Give it an inch and it will take the rest you have to offer. Why did the apostle utilize stern abstinence in this war against his soul? Lest he should not be approved or rewarded by the Lord. God disqualifies believers of their influence who have no control over their bodies. Is that a concern of yours today - or any day? So, to prevent being disqualified by the great Judge, Paul denied himself and brought his body in subjection to his spirit – and had his spirit governed by the Spirit of God…
1 Cor. 6:19-20 (KJV)
What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which
is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought
with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit,
which are God's.
Ladies, God has a plan for our bodies. He wants to use them to get a spiritual job accomplished on this earth. Likewise, the devil would like to use your body to thwart God’s plan. Don’t pervert God’s purpose for your body, discover, obtain, and guard it! Your body is a container that holds your soul and spirit. Should the container be allowed to dictate the use of the contents? No, the Owner of the container should have total say in the matter. An ungoverned body has the potential to transport a lost soul to hell and make an individual a castaway forever!
1 Cor. 9:24-26 (KJV)
Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but one receiveth the
prize? So run, that ye may obtain. [25] And every man that striveth for
the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible
crown; but we an incorruptible. [26] I therefore so run, not as uncertainly;
so fight I, not as one that beateth the air:
Today, many people, Christians included, run uncertainly and fight without understanding in the war against their soul. As long as their legs are moving and their arms are swinging, folks feel like they are accomplishing something, but there has to be a proper objective! Believers are beating the air, not their flesh, and in this activity they deceive themselves spiritually. The holiest and best servants are not excluded from the serious task of governing their body in a God honoring fashion. Even a preacher of the gospel is not exempt from becoming a castaway! Listen ladies, good beginnings don’t guarantee good endings - good management does. You must start out disciplined and remain disciplined throughout the Christian race. Are you running to obtain, or have you been “paralyzed” by your own body? Are you as focused as God is on your own faithfulness as a believer? Are you devoted to living and behaving for Christ - with steadiness? Successful running follows strict training. If we indulge unruly appetites and give our flesh whatever it craves, it will quickly perk up and dominate the soul and take us down the path of extremes, outside the limits of the Word of God. Hence, our bodies must not be allowed to rule. While we are in them we must be on constant and sober guard of bodily inclinations. Keep a close eye on your personal “cravings”… Raise interest in your soul. Make your body serve your mind as you yield to the guidance of the scriptures and right reasoning.
Col. 3:5-6 (KJV)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication,
uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness,
which is idolatry: [6] For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh
on the children of disobedience:
Scripture teaches that it is our duty to mortify our members that incline us to the things of this world. Mortify means to kill or suppress, to continually oppose our carnal tendencies. In other words, make a corpse of yourself! All unbalanced or sensual desires must be subdued; even pride, ambition, and the lust of power. As a matter of fact, every passion which does not flow from or lead to the love of God must be abandoned. Ladies, we must seek to escape occasions of sin, the lust of the flesh, the love of the world, and elect to govern our bodies by righteousness to the end that we may achieve God’s purposes above our own.
2 Tim. 2:22 (KJV)
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace,
with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
Body management is not an easy assignment, remember, it’s a war against your soul! If you lose the battle to youthful lusts, you’ll be fighting bigger battles as an adult! Understand that nothing that has life will be put to death without pain and struggling. For instance, if I tried to restrain an adult, there would be a great deal of resistance. But if I tried to restrain a baby or young child, how much resistance could they actually put forth? The longer the delay, the more painful the duty! Stifle your flesh while you are young and before it gains ground!
Notice also in the verse above, that Paul taught young Timothy that his companions could either be a help or a hindrance in the development of self-control. Do you need new friends to gain ground? The apostle also points out that while we should separate from settings that egg on our lusts, godliness is not meant to be a life of pompous isolation. Learn to replace harmful influences with helpful ones, swap the polluted for the unpolluted!
1 Peter 2:11 (KJV)
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from
fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
In this text, Paul confronted this group of believers using a particular title – aiming to challenge their outlook on and existence in this world.
1. How well does your flesh respond to the word “abstain”?
2. Do you regard this world as your home, or heaven as your home?
3. Where are your greatest attachments, thoughts, and affections?
4. Do you feel like a stranger in the world, or are you quite comfortable
in it?
5. How is your sojourning here affecting your body?
6. Do you see the war against your soul on a daily basis, or are you clueless?
Many believers live in this world as if their conscience, imagination, understanding, and judgment were not in danger of perversion. Therefore, their moral sense has been blunted and their hearts hardened because their bodies have been permitted to control them for so long. Thus, we cannot do the things that we would and they are losing the war against their soul!
Galatians 5:16-17 (KJV)
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust
of the flesh. [17] For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit
against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would.
There are two influences upon your soul - one would take us from God,
the other to God. Ladies, the flesh and spirit can never harmonize –
they are in constant opposition to one another, so don’t even try.
The human body has a higher mission than mere gratification of sensual
appetite. In order to maintain a holy life and testimony and minister
effectively we must be in command of our bodies through the power of the
indwelling Holy Spirit!! We must wean our hearts from the world and fix
them steadily on God…
Romans 6:12-13 (KJV)
Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it
in the lusts thereof. [13] Neither yield ye your members as instruments
of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that
are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness
unto God.
You’ll never master anything until you master yourself! The way you act, look, walk, talk, dress, eat, sleep, spend your money, and live in general proves what has dominion over you. Is it your body or the Holy Spirit? Would others say you lead a disciplined life? Would God?? Considering the control you have over your body at present, are you courting disqualification? If so, are you willing to adjust your actions for the sake of unbelievers or other brethren? Are you willing to permanently break bad habits and carefully set up new ones to the glory of God?
1 Peter 4:1-2 (KJV)
Forasmuch then as Christ hath suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves
likewise with the same mind: for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath
ceased from sin; [2] That he no longer should live the rest of his time
in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.
Ladies, Christ is always our proper pattern. We must seek the same disposition as He had – one of complete self-possession. Your spirit wants to do right, but your body doesn’t - it wants to destroy your Christian influence and your status with God. Which one will win the war against your soul? You’ll never fight the war until you see the war for what it really is! Remember, a good beginning doesn’t guarantee a good ending... Victory depends upon whether or not you live according to the truth and as God commands on a moment-by-moment basis…
Romans 7:21-8:1 (KJV)
I find then a law, that, when I would do good, evil is present with me.
[22] For I delight in the law of God after the inward man: [23] But I
see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and
bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. [24]
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?
[25] I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind
I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin.[8:1]
There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Useful Christian service comes as a result of gaining and maintaining strict control of our bodies.
There is no condemnation to believers who walk after the Spirit…
Becoming a castaway is a consequence of slothful supervision.
Are you really living for the Lord, dear lady, or only yourself? What a shame that God’s people should live the rest of their Christian life allowing their bodies to dictate the depth of their Christianity! Stop and consider what has control of you… Acknowledge the war against your soul, take hold of the power of Christ, and then fight it.
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2004 Pamela A. Iannello
