The Desire of the Flesh
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The Desire of the Flesh.
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.
17 For the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, in order to keep you from doing whatever you want.
I thought this was about lust. How blind was I? Yes, lust is a desire of the flesh but is that the only desire of the flesh? My epiphany was that any desire of the flesh could be in contention with the Spirit of God.
For instance, I always strive for peace. Peace is not in contention with the Spirit of God. However, peace at any cause is in opposition to God. We are presently at war, a spiritual war. War is the opposite of peace.
When peace unreasonably results in avoiding all conflict you are not walking in step with the Spirit of God. Jesus never avoided conflict He always stood His ground in every situation, and it did not always bring peace.
'Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.” '
That is not to say that we should seek discord, but it does mean that there will be situations where peace is not attainable, and confrontation is unavoidable and necessary.
Rejection
What about other desires of the flesh? The fear of rejection for one. You might say a fear of rejection is not a desire of the flesh. This is true but the desire not to be rejected is a desire of the flesh. No one wants to be rejected. Truly no one has a fear of rejection, we have a desire not to be rejected.
For some of us, we will do anything not to be rejected which ends up with us retracting from life and not expanding in life. Our desire not to be rejected will cause us to not do things that will benefit us. This desire not to be rejected keeps us in the same place. Never moving forward never experiencing all that God has for us because doing something new may lead to being rejected. And rejection hurts.
Jesus was rejected. He experienced rejection on every level. Yet knowing that he would be rejected He did not shut down hide or quit. His motive was love and with love comes vulnerability. He for the cause of love and our salvation suffered the result of vulnerability and accepted the unjust rejection of Him.
Love
Love is another desire of the flesh. We all desire to be loved. Some of us have gone to extreme measures to be loved. We have done harmful things in the pursuit of love. I don’t have to explain that to you because if you lived long enough to read this you have heard war stories brought about by the need to be loved. From our desire to be loved come all fleshly desires.
'Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. '
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
https://www.bible.com/bible/100/1CO.13.4-7
Love is the essential expression of God. This expression is best experienced with the Spirit of God in you. When we allow the desires of our flesh to overcome the expression of the love of God through His Spirit in us, we are in opposition to the Spirit of God. In other words, when we look for the fulfillment of our overriding need to be loved in places other than the Spirit of God in us, we end up in opposition to God.
How does God love you?
God will never leave you.
God will never reject you.
God will never abandon you.
God will protect you.
God will provide for you.
God will heal you.
God will sustain you.
God knows you.
God gave Himself for you.
God died on the cross for you.
God was resurrected from that cross for you.
God will never war against you.
God will never lose you.
God will hold you.
God will comfort you.
God will bring you to victory.
God provided a plan of salvation for you.
God has provided for your every need.
God is eternal and is all-sufficient.
God provides freedom.
All fleshy fear, pain, or detrimental behavior is a result of being deaf to the Spirit of God in you. If we become proficient in recognizing the love of God, we will grow more adept at receiving His love. Through His love, we become free from the desires of the flesh and free to experience the endless life, vision, and purpose of God. The Spirit of God is the way to the love of God. By learning to know the Spirit of God we will begin to know the grace and wonder of a God of love. The desires of the flesh will melt away forgotten never to diminish your life.
You will never know the Spirit of God by defeating the desires of the flesh. You are incapable of that. But through submission to the Spirit of God, you will be liberated from the bondage of the flesh.