I Peter 1: 15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
I Peter 2: 21 For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps:
I’m trying to do better. I don’t watch much TV, and I only listen to music that was produced 10 years ago, or was done by a “non-professional”, but I still struggle. Do you ever play a song on the radio or stop “surfing” to watch a show that you’ve heard about, only to feel a terrible struggle ‘neath your chest? I have! That struggle, if you’re born again, is the Holy Spirit and your flesh battling it out. Who will win? Well, the stronger of the two, naturally. You may be thinking, “Well, that’s the Holy Spirit- He’s God, He’s stronger than anything.” Well, think again! You see, the Holy Spirit is very sensitive. You can quench Him easily. If you feed your flesh more than your Spirit, then your flesh will win. You do this by ignoring the Holy Spirit’s tugging at your mind. When He tells you “You know this is wrong, don’t do it.” and you refuse to listen, then each time after that, the voice will not be as hard to ignore. If you rarely read your Bible, attend church, tithe, or do for others, oh, and here’s a biggie -pray, then you will have an anemic spiritual life. Your flesh will be stronger, and your flesh will win those “battles”, if you even have a “battle” going on. Maybe you never feel the Holy Spirit tugging at your mind. If you don’t then you need to have a check up. Ask yourself: Am I saved? If you are for sure, then ask yourself :When was the last time I had a spiritual “meal” of Bible, and prayer. Not a “ritual” but an actual time where you talked with God and listened to His Word? There’s an old illustration of the flesh and the Spirit that goes like this: A man had a white dog and a black dog that he was going to let fight each other. He fed the black dog meat two or three times a day for a week, while the white dog went hungry for a week. Which dog do you think won the fight? It’s obvious: the black dog. The white dog was too weak with hunger to defend himself. Which one do you feed?
Christ is our example. We aren’t to measure up to “Mr. or Mrs. Super Christian”, because even they at their best are still just human. We are to measure up to Christ. We are to be holy, because He is holy! I have a loooong way to go! Would Jesus be pleased with my watching that new TV show? Well, there’s cursing, nudity and inappropriate dialog…I don’t think so. Does he want me listening to that new Southern Gospel group that sounds more country than Gospel? Does He get glory from that? No, I doubt it.I don’t always choose for my Spirit – sometimes I fail and give over to my flesh, but I don’t want to make it a habit! I want to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit and feed my Spirit. And when there is a battle going on for my mind, I want my Spirit to win, hands down.