Tug-of-War

Tug-of-war. It’s one of those great games that you can still play at any age. I’ve seen pictures lately of kids playing it at their end of the school year field days and I’ve seen pictures of adults playing it during Memorial Day picnics. Bragging rights are at stake as soon as you pick up that one end of the rope and start pulling. But what about that inner tug-of-war that we battle with ourselves everyday whether to do what we should or to do what we want?

That inner battle is real in the Christian life!  I face it everyday. I know what I should be doing in a spiritual sense, but my flesh wants to do the exact opposite and satisfy itself. The Apostle Paul calls it the battle between our spiritual life and our earthly, or carnal, life. He even struggled with the same things we do.

“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” - Romans 7:14-20.

I see this tug-of-war in my own life in my marriage and my family. I come home from work in the evening and my flesh just wants to sit down and relax and sit in my recliner. My wife and kids haven’t seen me all day and they want my attention too. I know in my heart that I need to help out when I get home, whether it’s helping clean up after supper, playing outside with the kids or getting them ready for bed, but my selfishness wants to just sit and relax. It’s a battle, and I know what to do, but the flesh just doesn’t want to do it. Can I get an “amen”?

Don’t feel like your failing because of this inner tug-of-war that we all go through. Keep pushing on and feeding the spiritual side and we will find ourselves winning more battles than losing. The battle never ends, it’s waiting for us every morning when we wake up.

Have a great day and God bless.