July 18 The Spiritual Battle Is On!

Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly. ~Proverbs 17:12 

“Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial.” “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. ~1 Corinthians 6:12 

We have used the expression, “Mother Bear,” on more than one occasion in our household. It would appear that mothers will defend their children with ferocious tenacity, in more breeds than just bears. It’s instinctual. After all, their bodies once housed those defenseless offspring. They gave birth and nourished them. It’s only natural that they would have a vested interest in their survival and protection. 

A mother bear, robbed of her cubs, would be a force to reckon with, for good reason. On the other hand, the fool may also rage, but without reason. They have no control over their rage and anger, and, perhaps, they themselves don’t have a clue what would appease them. They just want to rant. It makes them feel alive, or powerful. Whatever the case, they are out of control. Trying to deal with them is like trying to reason with a tornado. You will not be successful. 

Paul says, “everything is permissible for me,” does that include anger? There are times for righteous anger. Certainly, a mother bear robbed of her cubs has a good cause for her anger. Since she cannot reason, emotive power is all she has to express herself in that given situation. We cannot fault the bear for being angry. She has suffered a grave injustice with no recourse. 

Paul makes two qualifying statements for what is permissible for him. Is what I am about to do beneficial and has what I wanted to do mastered me? In the case of the fool in his folly, his folly is neither beneficial, nor is he the master of it. That’s what makes him so dangerous. He does not have any self-control, but rather is out of control, which is part of what makes him a fool. He is allowing his emotions to run wild and has disengaged the thinking part of himself altogether. 

So, probably most of us would see ourselves as much more in control than the fool. However, if we really took the time to think about it, there are still probably parts of our lives that we could identify as areas in which we do not quite have the kind of self-control we should. It could be food. It could be work. These days, it could be screen time. It could be negative thoughts or worry. Anything can be our master and move from something to do, to sin, if we let it. 

Something that starts out as beneficial can become our master and lose its benefit to us when we let it. When it does master us, we run the risk of becoming the fool in his folly, even if it isn’t exactly a raging behavior. This is how addiction runs its course. Habits and hang-ups are born out of our efforts to heal from hurts. We try to numb the pain with a more pleasurable experience and end up addicted to the “remedy.” 

We need the help of the Holy spirit to keep these things in check. Paul says: “I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.” (1 Cor. 9:27) He fought hard to keep anything from mastering him, even in his thought life: “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” (2 Cor. 10:5) 

Our sinful nature does not like to be mastered. It wants to BE the master! It doesn’t help that satan knows how to tease us and keep us paying attention to our fleshly desires. We are in a spiritual battle, always, to do what is beneficial. We are in a spiritual battle, always, to hand the reigns of our lives over to God and let Him master us instead. 

Fortunately, we are not alone in our struggle. God is with us and working in us to transform our foolish nature with its folly into better choices that will bless others and bring Him glory. Praise the Lord. He is in the spiritual battle with us to help us conquer our sinful selves and remake our desires to conform more with His. We can be “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 1:6

Prayer: Father, if you don’t stand with me, I cannot stand! You are my help and strength and refuge. Help me remember that in every temptation, the way of escape is to run to you! I Jesus’ name, amen.

Song: I Surrender All