Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Spirit or Flesh; Which One Are You Feeding the Most??

Have you ever watched an entire show on tv, then when it was over you said, "Why in the world did I waste an hour of my life watching THAT!! David and I wasted not only one hour, but 2 hours Saturday night and when he turned off the tv he said, "Wasn't that just plain stupid?"

Sunday morning as were getting ready for church, he brought it up again and made the point that we should have changed channels or turned it off altogether. And of course he was right, but something else began to nag at me; on Saturday night, before we prepared for church on Sunday, before I taught a Sunday School class of women who were looking to me to "rightly divide the Word of truth", I had sat  mindlessly, half asleep and watched not 1, but 2, shows that I would not have let my grandchildren see. And it occurred to me, I had spent more time feeding my flesh than I had spent feeding my spirit.

I have often said that the word "holy" is a word that scares me. But a word that is equally scary to me is
"virtue". And maybe it is such a scary word for me because we associate the word virtue with the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31, and oh my ladies...isn't she intimidating? We go from trying to be like her to hating her, but one thing I learned about virtue this week is this; virtue is the total package. It is who we are on the inside after beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ that spills over into every area of our lives. And the more we feed our spirit and starve our flesh the more virtuous we become. Being virtuous is attainable to every woman who has put her faith and trust in what Jesus did for us at Calvary, and it becomes attainable by feeding our spirit the good food of spiritual truth and starving the flesh by removing any and everything from our lives that does not line up with God's absolutes.

I've done this with my class a few times over the years and those silly tv shows reminded me that I needed a refresher course; I need to take the test again. So here it is, you fill in the blanks with the word flesh or spirit.

Does this feed my flesh or does it feed my spirit?
1. Reading my Bible every day. _______________.
2. Being faithful to church services._____________.
3. Watching reruns of Desperate Housewives?._______________.
4. Spending quiet time in prayer.____________.
5. Taking notes during the sermon on Sunday, then meditating on what my pastor said.____________.
6. "Discussing" with my best friend my husband's faults and "how he makes me soooooo mad."________.
7. Telling the latest news on the woman down the street and all her marital problems._______________.
8. Participating in the Lord's Supper with my church family.____________.
9. Reading the latest trashy romance novel. (I won't give titles or authors!!)_________
10. Listening to music that glorifies sexual relationships outside of marriage, drinking, crude language._____.
11. Looking over things in our children's behavior that we really need to address.__________.
(yes we can actually feed our flesh and starve out the spirit in not only our lives, but theirs, when we fail to parent in even the "little things".)
12. Letting our mind linger on the compliment from a man who is not our husband, brother, son.________

(and I won't mention Facebook...that would be a whole other test!!)

I think you get the idea. Take stock of the things that you accept as your "normal" way of life and ask yourself; when I participate in this am I feeding my spirit or is this feeding and weakening my flesh?

It is a constant battle and sometimes it is just easier to give in and go with the flow. After all, everyone else is doing it, right? It's hard to turn off the tv when your kids are asking, "Why do we have to be different from everybody else?" And what woman wants to get together with her girl friends and just sit there while they discuss the latest episode of Devious Maids, or do a little hubby bashing, after all, your husband isn't perfect, right? And what woman doesn't enjoy the compliment of a man and feeling appreciated for who she is?

And the flesh gets fatter and fatter and fatter and before long the spirit is as skinny as a rail!

So today I challenge you, look for ways to feed your spirit and starve that sinful flesh! And the heavier the spirit gets, the more virtue others will see in our lives.

And David says........"Next Saturday night we ARE NOT watching anything stupid!"

Let me hear from you and have a very spirit-filled day!

Penny

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