Conflicting desires

I heard a secular teaching once that said one of the reasons we do not achieve a particular goal is because we have conflicting desires in us.

For example, you may have a fitness goal.  There is the desire to lose weight.  But there is also the desire to sit on the couch and eat ice cream.

When the time comes to work out, these desires are in conflict.  One is in agreement with the goal (work out lines up with the goal to lose weight) the other is not.  As long as you go back and forth between the two desires, the goal will not be achieved. 

You cannot do both!  Many will do one then the other, going back and forth between the two and eventually giving up.

Sound familiar? 

The same principle is true for our spiritual life.

"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.  For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Gal 5:16-18 (NIV)

We are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17).  However we are still living in this tent we call "the flesh".  As long as we make choices that agree with the goal of being made into the image of Jesus Christ, we will grow and our walk with him will move forward.  Every time we give in to the flesh, we stop that growth because sin is not in line with God's goal for our life.

Let's think about that next time the choice to sin presents itself.  Stop and realize there are two plans for our life.  One plan is from God and leads to life, the other plan is from Satan and leads to our destruction. 

The choice we make, in that moment, will determine the path of our life.