Learn to crucify yourself!

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:24


No one knows or can better explain the struggles we have in our flesh as the apostle Paul can*, **. He says the carnal mind is enmity against God*. While the world whispers in our ears to enjoy ourselves any way we can, Paul warns us not to be conformed to the world's way of thinking but to be transformed by being renewed in our minds*. He says, "if you belong to Christ then you ought to crucify your flesh with its evil desires". Picture this for a while; you are both the one being crucified and the one doing the crucifying. You are the one with the hammer and the nail and you are the one with the open palms ready to receive the pounding. Where as this conjures up a picture of some medieval monk flogging and torturing himself in order to attain salvation, this is not what the apostle means when he says crucify yourselves. He means discipline* and not abuse which has no value in making any progress but only gives one a false sense of pride and achievement*.

How are we to crucify our flesh?

Paul tells us to remind ourselves of how when we practiced sin that it was both fruitless and made us ashamed*! In today's world temptations and attacks can come at us from all angles and in various modes. Whenever lust or some other temptation crops up in our life we should go into a prayer/fasting mode*. This will weaken our flesh while setting us up for sweet communion with the spirit, His outpouring and revelation. At this time we should also open up God's word and start reading to remind ourself of God's promises. This will gird our mind for good actions and rekindle the fire in our heart. We should then find the particular scriptures pertaining to the area of struggle we are facing and meditate on it. This will help us understand how to position ourself against this particular attack.

Your flesh will resist and try to run from any and all kinds of spiritual endeavours and activities. It will resist waking up on Sunday to go to church and listen to God's word or you will find yourself dozing off just when prayer time comes around. But learn to muzzle it so that your soul can progress to that higher place that God desires for you! This does not mean we should not have time for other work or recreational activities. However, we should guard against our prayer time being stolen or squandered through watching flaky TV shows or other types of useless entertainment. We should be jealous of our time! Otherwise, like the disciples who slept at the most crucial time in our Lord's ministry(His passion), He might say to us, "Can you not pray with me an hour"


God's standard of Holiness

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. 12 It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age.

Titus 2: 11
Further reading-------->What is Biblical holiness?