There lives inside of each believer two "men" - the carnal (or natural) and the spiritual. The carnal man is who we are born with, i.e. the flesh that is referred to in the Scriptures as "the old" (2Cor 5.17). The carnal man is steeped in sin. The spiritual man is the "new creation" spoken of in 2Cor 5.17 that is given upon conversion to a life with Christ. Since good and evil can not dwell together, as light and dark can not exist at the same time, these two are at constant war with each other for a place in our heart. Furthermore, just as our physical bodies need nourishment to grow, so do these two men.
I am reminded of two fish I bought my daughter. Every time we fed them, one would quickly eat up all of the food before the other could get any. Soon, the slow fish died from the lack of nourishment and the quick one grew quite large and had the aquarium all to himself. This is exactly what occurs with the two warring men inside of us.
When I fed myself with music, TV, books and people full of cursing, negativity, sex, drugs and greediness, my carnal man grew big and strong. So, it is no surprise that I was living a life of cursing, negativity, sex, drugs and greediness. And because of this life I was depressed, broke, hopeless and alone. When I ran to God for help and began to feed myself with music, TV, books and people talking about Scriptures, hope, purity, cleanliness and giving, my spiritual man grew big and strong. During these times I experienced joy, peace, hope and comfort. But, somehow the carnal man always showed back up.
This is the place I found myself several times during my walk with God. I would start out on fire and soon the flame would fizzle. I figured out that just as skipping meals will starve the body, skipping spiritual meals will starve the spiritual man. Growth is a process that continues until we die. Each day I must make a conscious decision to grow a little more. The Scriptures tell us so: 2Pet 3.18 "but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord . . ." Grow is defined as a process meaning something that takes place over time. So even if I am the pastor or the oldest member, I must continue on in the process until the end.
So, when I find myself repeating the same prayers to God or feeling frustrated and unhappy, I take a look at what I'm feeding my spiritual man. Maybe I'm sick and tired because I'm still snacking on the Word when I should be feasting on it. Maybe I'm still in the same economic situation because I'm nickle-and-diming God instead of trusting him to give till it hurts. And maybe I haven't started that venture God placed in my heart because I'm still asking someone else to pray for me instead of praying for others.
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