I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want.      Galatians 5:16-17 HCSB

You don’t have to teach a child to be selfish or mean. You don’t have to teach a child to lie. These things come naturally for us as human beings. It’s natural for us to put ourselves first and above others. It’s natural for us to lie to get ourselves out of a jam. It’s natural for us to want to seek revenge on those who have harmed us or someone we love.

Now, I’ll admit there have been times I have wondered why God didn’t make being good come naturally to us. But then how would He know what we were made of if being good was easy. As Christians we are expected to do what comes unnaturally. We are expected to walk in the Spirit and not carry out the desires of our flesh as our scripture passage says. But, our scripture passage also says that the Spirit and the flesh oppose each other.

Think about it this way, there is a spiritual war going on for your soul. God wants each and everyone of us to accept Him and walk in the Spirit and spend eternity in our heavenly home with Him. The devil wants our soul and literally wants to see us burn in hell. The difference is God is open with us. He lets us know through His holy word that we will go through many trials and tribulations. He lets us know that there will be hard times (John 16:33). He also lets us know that if we will allow Him, He will take good care of us (Jeremiah 29:11).

The devil is much more sneaky about it all. The devil promises us rainbows and lollipops and it may actually start out that way, but it soon turns into horrific thunderstorms and a sugar crash. If you want to satisfy the desires of your flesh and please the devil, do what comes naturally. Be lazy, sleep in on Sunday and skip church. Watch garbage on TV or the internet instead of studying your Bible and spending time in prayer. Hate those that hate you. Seek revenge on those that persecute you. Oh, and be sure to lie if the conversation should become uncomfortable in any way. These are the things that please the devil and satisfy the flesh. The problem with these things is it’s temporary satisfaction. At some point it will cause you a great deal of heartache and pain.

If you would rather walk in the Spirit and please God, know that this choice will be a bit more difficult. It’s more difficult because this decision calls on us to do things that don’t come naturally. As followers of Christ, we are called to do things like love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We are told to be still and know that He is God (Psalm 46:10), praise Him and know that He’s got this. We must leave vengeance to God (Romans 12:19). God expects us to actually overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21) and not allow ourselves to be conquered by evil. This may sound like a constant struggle, but once you let go and let God, it becomes much easier.

I have lived a life satisfying the desires of the flesh but didn’t actually find it to be very satisfying. Once I surrendered to Christ, He helped me to walk in the Spirit. I simply rely on Him to fill me with His Holy Spirit which helps those things that come unnaturally to become those things that come naturally. He would love to do the same for you, you simply need to trust in Him and commit to obey Him. You will be so glad you did. The only way that you come win that spiritual war for your soul is to trust and obey Him.

If you don’t have a good, solid relationship with Jesus Christ, I pray that you will turn to Him today. Then you will see that what’s truly unnatural is for us to please the devil. We were made to be in fellowship with Christ.

Have a great day!