YOUR GREATEST BATTLE
Proverbs 16:32 NLT
Better to be patient than powerful; it is better to have self-control than to conquer a city.
There is no greater battle you or I will ever face than our battle with self. I’ve watched many lives ruined over the years because a person was unwilling to control their own spirit, to rule their own flesh, emotions and desires.
All of us, no matter who we are, will face hardships, difficulties, and troubles in life. All of us will be provoked, harassed, mistreated, and tempted. We’ll each face, to varying degrees, emotions of fear, anger, rage, disgust, hurt, greed, and overwhelming desires. We’ll be tempted to give in to discouragement, depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. We’ll each have to deal with the bombardment of crazy, tormenting thoughts inside our head. None of us are immune to any of these things. This is what it is to be human.
Each of us must learn to consistently conquer our emotions, our wild, crazy thoughts, and put the flesh to death. We must conquer ourselves. We must see to it that we learn to consistently rule over our own thoughts, feelings and emotions, rather than letting our emotions rule and destroy us.
This doesn’t mean we don’t feel, that we kill all emotions living inside us. It means that no matter what others may do to me, or the emotions stirred up in my heart, I will not let them decide my fate for me. I will not allow them to cause me to quit, give up, or succumb to their provocations. I will not let others choose for me, what I am, or what I will become.
I’ve had to walk through some extremely intense, gut-wrenching situations over the last 50 years. I feel life very intensely, as my wife once observed to me, “Mark, your emotions are like Niagara Falls, only God can handle them.” She is absolutely right. All the passion many of you have witnessed listening to me preach, resides in me about everything. Life hits me very hard. My convictions are extremely deep, they’re felt with great emotion. I’ve had to face many crushing emotions as a result of things that have happened to me. I had to determine—I will not let them ultimately rule over me, or cause me to quit or give up. I will not let them make me bitter, depressed or discouraged for the rest of my life. Instead, I will run to God with them. I will choose to let God help me. I will choose to run after God. I will not let my emotions, my flesh and my thoughts run away with me and destroy me.
In my battle with self, these have been vital to my consistent conquest of self.
Practice aggressive gratitude—This is not a nice little platitude to me. It is my only way to keep cynical, pessimistic, crazy thoughts from overwhelming my soul. Every single morning I rise very early, beginning each day by aggressively thanking God in prayer for the many blessings in my life. I do this again later in the morning when I pray with my wife. Never forget it’s a proven fact, gratitude makes you feel better.
Make no provision for the flesh—I take this very seriously. A simple example: I keep no cookies, chips, or other junk food anywhere in our house. It’s way too easy to eat it when it’s around me. I don’t window shop, spend time online looking at stuff to buy. I am mindful that fleshly desires wage war against my soul.
I beat my body and make it my slave—I take physical discipline of my body very seriously. I faithfully discipline my own body daily, through my 3 mile prayer walks, daily exercise, and a strict diet. I plan ahead each day exactly what I am going to eat and make sure I have it on hand. I keep all the tools I need for exercise right beside me in my office, where they’re easily accessible and cannot be ignored. If I give my flesh an inch, it will take a mile. Never forget exercise and healthy eating affect your brain, emotions and your health in a very positive way.
I strive to consistently take my thoughts captive in obedience to Christ—I try to focus on what is good, lovely, true, pure, excellent and praiseworthy. If I don’t aggressively pursue this way of thinking, the dark, negative, ugliness of this world invades my mind and spirit. You will never conquer the self with a lazy mind. We must train our brain.
I tap into God’s power for living—God has given us a spirit of power, love and self-discipline! Use it! It doesn’t happen automatically. You must tap into it, believe that it is there and by faith, step out and use that power to discipline yourself! The awesome power of God lives in you through the presence of the Holy Spirit he’s given to each of us. That’s an absolute fact of our reality as a Christian. Most Christians seldom tap into this incredible power living inside them.
I put my mind on God’s word throughout my day—His truth will set you free. His truth will transform your life as you renew your mind with it! His words, His commands, His precepts, His promises, will give you joy, revive your soul, and give you insight to effective living. You can never win this battle without it! It must be, literally, food to your soul and spirit. Unless you treasure His words as your necessary food, the battle is lost and will stay lost.
I talk to God about everything, telling Him my worries, troubles, concerns and requests—If I don’t do this every day, they eat a hole in my spirit, dominate my thoughts, and negatively impact my emotions. I cannot live or survive without God’s help. Worry and anxiety will destroy our quality of life.
I don’t sit around dreaming about things I don’t have. I aggressively think about the blessings God has given to me right now, and thank and praise Him for them—This keeps my heart content and satisfied, freeing me from the constant drumbeat of greedy desires.
I urge you to embrace and apply these principles or you will never win your battle with self. Instead, you’ll spend most of your life defeated in mind, body and spirit.
Helping you become a Strong Disciple,
Because of Jesus,
Pastor Mark Darling
