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When the Flesh Takes Over: Flesh vs Spirit Galatians 5:17 · Life For Toledo

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  I'm thinking today of Galatians 5 .17. It says,
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  For the desire of the flesh is against the spirit,
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  and the spirit against the flesh. For these are
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  in opposition to one another, in order to keep
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  you from doing whatever you want. Here's the
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  thing. When I was in high school, I was invited
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  to join the wrestling team. I went and watched
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  a practice for about 20 minutes. I saw guys my
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  size who were stronger than me doing wrestling
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  things, and I just knew. I couldn't win. Didn't
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  really want to try. Didn't want to put in that
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  kind of effort. Didn't want to beat myself up
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  to kind of meet that mold, if you will. The Holy
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  Spirit of God and the Spirit of your flesh, that
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  is to say your desires, your wants, the things
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  that your body would want that go contrary to
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  what God wants, they're wrestling. And it's like
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  every day, the Spirit is against the flesh and
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  the flesh is against the Spirit. Bottom line
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  is, you can't just do whatever you want. You
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  can't just fulfill your desires. You can't say,
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  well, I should be allowed to do that because
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  I want to do it, because I feel like I need it,
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  or so on. You need to submit to the Lord Jesus
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  Christ. You need to let the Holy Spirit reign
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  in your heart. True freedom is found when the
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  God of the universe is in perfect relationship
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  with a human being. You can be broken free from
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  that wrestling force that is your flesh and your
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  sinful desires and free to follow God and free
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  to live in relationship with God. And I would
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  encourage you today then to fight on the right
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  side. Don't let the flesh take over.