The Encourager
“Mankind's Internal Battles - by Jeff Curtis”
Mankind’s Internal Battles
By Jeff Curtis
From the earliest writings to present day writings, testimonies abound about the internal struggles of mankind. An extreme example of inner conflict can be found in the Robert Louis Stephenson’s classical tale of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recently, in a western movie called “The Missing,” about a renegade Indian challenged to be the hero, “Inside you are two dogs. One is evil, the other is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time… Which one wins?” At first the hero said, “I don’t know,” but then he came to this conclusion; “Whichever on I feed the most.”
Of course, the conflict that Paul speaks about in Romans 7:14-25 wasn’t just like the conflict in the examples given. Those conflicts involved inner an inner desire to do evil, while Paul’s conflict came about from a heartfelt desire to only good – a desire he couldn’t consistently fulfill. Nevertheless, Paul’s inner struggle is a parallel to mankind’s internal battles enough to allow each of us to make application to his or her own life.
Johnny Cash once recorded an album that had a cover showing two dogs. One dog was black with a white stripe, the other was a white dog with a black stripe. He was asked in an interview about what the dogs represented to him. His response was, “When I was really bad, I was not all bad. When I was trying to be good, I could never be all good.” Most of us can sympathize with the individual who said, “I wish I could be as good all the time as I am some of the time.”
Pressing Toward the Goal in the New Year
by Jesse A. Flowers
“I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14).
The beginning of a New Year is always a good time to make resolutions and set goals.
Many will make a goal of losing weight, but more importantly “let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1).
Others will make a resolution to exercise more, but let’s be sure to exercise ourselves toward godliness (1 Timothy 4:7). “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come” (1 Timothy 4:8).
Many will decide to eat healthier in the new year, but don’t forget to feed daily upon the bread of life (John 6:35; Matthew 4:4; Psalm 1:2). Let us “hunger and thirst for righteousness” that we may be filled (Matthew 5:6).
And of course, it is vitally important that we never lose sight of the most important goal of all - Heaven. Let each one of us resolve that every day the Lord grants us that we will press toward that eternal goal.
Meditate on This:
Romans 6:4
Therefore, we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
