"The serious (Christian) man diligently searches out God's ways!"
Ken Nair - Life Partners
www.lifepartners.org
As a part of my search, I am compiling a list of the times when I feel weakest to falling to my flesh. What I mean is that there are physical circumstances when I fall prey to being angry, impatient, frustrated and/or other temptations that lead to sin (flesh). The reason it's important to identify these times is that they cause me to hurt the ones closest to me. If I'm to conquer my flesh, I need to pinpoint my own areas of weakness so that I can go to God for His strength at the very moment when I am weakest. I'd be interested to hear if yours matches mine and/or if you have others that you would add from your own experience. So, here goes:
I am prone to fall to my fleshly ways when I:
- am hot
- am cold
- am hungry
- am thirsty
- am tired
- am stressed out
- am sick
- am pressed for time (running late)
- am short on money
- have to wait
- have lost something
- am in pain
- make a mistake
- feel unprepared
- have to depend on someone else
- feel ignored
- feel like things aren't going my way
- am doing something that takes longer than I thought it would
- have an idea that's challenged
- experience unusual circumstances
- experience the same darn thing happen over and over again
- am wrongly accused
- am rightly accused
- am confused
Remember, the list is not the end. It is the means to identify moments when I'm weak and need to count on God's strength so that I don't do spiritual damage to those around me (or myself). Here's more:
I am prone to fall to my fleshly ways when I:
- am alone (they even have a saying for this one: 'you can gauge the character of a man by what he does when he's alone')
- have nothing to do (this one has a saying too: 'an idle mind is the devil's workshop')
- believe there is no hope
- have to take the blame when it's not my fault
- have to take the blame when it is my fault
- see (what appears to me to be) incompetence in others
- my directions are misunderstood or not followed (I thought my instructions were brilliant!)
- am driving (this is (or should be) on every guy's list)
- am driving and lost (I wouldn't think of asking for directions!)
- forget something (as in, I'm driving two blocks away from home and remember I left it at the house)
- am in a crowd of people (the last time I really 'fleshed out' was (ironically) at a Billy Graham Crusade)
- am inconvenienced
- see (what appears to me to be) an injustice
- am treated unfairly
- am at Holiday functions (I can't tell you how many I've ruined!)
What's on your list?
Peace, Kim
wow kim....I am still thinking...where I feel you have to have named them all, I know there is something I can add. Give me a day...or two...this is a brain drainer Sue
ReplyDeleteHi there. Thanks for visiting Seedlings. I'll visit here again soon (sorry this is off topic for your post... just had a quick minute and wanted to stop by.)
ReplyDeleteThis is always what drew me to Jesus (and still does)... on the cross he was hungry, thirsty, hot, wrongly-accused, tired, stressed, sick at heart, waiting, steeped in the loss of friends, in pain, ignored, alone, taking the blame for what wasn't his fault, misunderstood, in a crowd, the target of injustice, inconvenienced...
ReplyDeleteand he said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
Thanks, for your thoughts LL! I want to be just like Him!
ReplyDeleteKim, Yes. Good points here.
ReplyDeleteI tend to think I'm prone to fall just anytime. Yet there are times where it is more dangerous, and that is certainly Biblical.
At the same time, as we read in Scripture, let the one who thinks they stand, take heed, lest they fall (1 Corinthians 10).
So I really believe I'm prone anytime. So I want to follow Paul's words in Romans 13:
"Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature." And other passages like that.
Thanks!
Ted, thanks for your thoughts. I had one friend e-mail me that he's prone to fall: "When I'm awake. When I'm asleep." The reason I think it's important to be specific (even if the list gets ridiculously long) is that I get blase' when I'm too general.
ReplyDeleteAs an example, like many guys, I have had a problem with lustful eyes. So, when I'm walking out the door to the mall, my wife might help me by saying "Remember, you're going to the MALL," because she knows that there are a lot of visual distractions there. In the past I might get defensive, but knowing that it's on my list (or should be) I click in and say to myself "Right, be on your guard." Thanks so much for taking the time to post here, Ted.