Christians please! Spiritual vs physical?

Question

I am a Christain and know what God expects from me. But I struggle with the envy of the body. You know between what I want and what the right things is to do. How can I be a devoded Christian without messing up all the time?

Answer 1

It is both, for God created you to live and reach your destiny. For example:

David of the Old Testament was a man of God. He was a hard-driving, drinking, womanizing, murdering, adulterous man, who loved and worshipped God. He was a man; he was a warrior for God who courageously fought Goliath. He was a moral, upright man fighting brutal wars and built a nation.

David struggled with sin. What church would accept this man, today? The media would have vilified him and he would have been prosecuted. Yet God loved him. Read Psalms, there is no doubt David was a man of God. God was in his soul. David accomplished God’s will in his life; he created a strong nation, although with mistakes, sin, rewards and pain.

Mistakes and sin happens to great people, and all people. No one is perfect, not even men of God.

This is not an endorsement of David’s sins. It is a fact from the Bible to learn from. We are sinners that are striving to live, learn and do our best. The acknowledgement of sin, leads to motivation to change. For our part, we need to tend toward forgiveness rather than judgment.

“To be a saint is the exception; to be upright is the rule. Err, falter, sin, but be upright. To commit the least possible sin is the law for man. Sin is a gravitation.” – Victor Hugo

Too often religion is overly involved in the details of people’s lives specifying what they can and cannot do. This needs to be re-thought. Dancing with a loved one adds great joy to life. Why make people feel guilty over drinking a glass of wine with a dinner?

“As the caterpillar chooses the fairest leaves to lay her eggs on, so the priest lays his curse on the fairest joys.” -- William Blake

Hope this helps!

Answer 2

You may be Christian, but you're also human. You're supposed to mess up all the time. This is how we learn.

Try not to stress out too much. As I tell my son, "Accidents happen, even when you're being careful!"

God expects that you will make mistakes. That is why the Higher Power offers us the gift of forgiveness. Forgiveness is not earned, it is a gift of compassion. It is given to us, not because we deserve it, but because we need it.

I understand entirely about the struggle between what I want and what is the right thing to do, but to be honest, the more secure you are in your faith and the more you believe that God has your back, the easier it is to relax and avoid temptation at the same time.

Answer 3

I have had this same struggle. It helps if you can get busy with other things. Also, fill your mind with scripture and good music and good relationships, and throw away your catalogs and magazines that make you feel like your life is inadequate. Don't' read books or watch shows that feed your feelings of inadequacy. At least for a while, until you make some progress with this.

It also helps to have sisters in Christ that you can be accountable to. You can share your struggle with them and they can correct you when you are slipping. This has a side effect of both making you more humble and growing you closer as friends so you are a winner all the way around.

God Bless.

Answer 4

"walk in the spirit and you will not fullfil the lust of the flesh" " The flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh" " The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance" Jesus said to follow him. He said He was the only way and He only gave us one commandment. If you follow this commandment He said Him and the Father will come and make their home with you. The commandment was Love. God is Love. Love over powers everything. Love Never Fails. When you walk with Jesus, He will show you how to be like him through the Holy Spirit. The devil doesnt want that. Thats why he does things like situations that you are having. So take the authority that Jesus has givin us and bind that thought in Jesus Name.

Answer 5

You have to expand your awareness beyond your immediate, temporal situation and see things through God's eyes. You also have to grow in trust that God will meet your needs in the best way and at the best time for His overall plan for your life.

You have to "walk according to the Spirit" and "crucify the flesh" renewing your mind by reading the Word of God and storing it up in your heart so that you can wield the sword of the Spirit when temptation comes and raise the shield of faith when the fiery darts of the enemy are launched at you.

Galatians 5, Ephesians 4,5 & 6, and other passages.

Answer 6

Contrary to popular belief, Christian people are not perfect and they are going to make mistakes. No one is perfect in an imperfect world. The only ones that are is Jesus and God.

Your going to face many battles during your course of Christianity. Your body will be tempted, your mind be confused and even your spirit may wane a bit.

But fear not, for God is with you always! He will never leave you nor forsake you! that is His promise to all who believe in Him. When life gets rough and tough, go to Him with all your burdens and woes. He of all people knows of the trials and hurdles in your life and He will provide you with comfort. Keep your faith and belief strong in Him. The rewards afterwards are down right wonderful!

Good luck and may God Bless you now and forever!

Answer 7

Proverbs 24:16 (NKJV)
For a righteous man may fall seven times
And rise again,
But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

Righteous men and women sin.


1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

Remember who you are in Christ when you fall short. You are chosen, you are special, and you have been called out of darkness.

You are correct, it is wrong to sin....but you are also an adopted child.

Answer 8

Realize that its in your nature as a human to mess up and that you are completely and utterly dependant on the grace of God to fill in the gaps between who you are and who you should be.

Christ is the only thing that can fill those gaps, so you have to ask him to help you with the areas where you dont meet Gods standards.

Its not an issue for you to murder. You dont struggle with that desire or catch yourself in the act of murder, its not an issue you have. You meet gods standards in that area.

BUt with envy you cannot measure up because it is a weakness in your character. You have to ask Jesus to help you overcome that weakness and build the strength in you that you need to meet Gods standards.

And then have a soft heart and know when to respond to his directions.

Answer 9

You said it yourself: you know what God expects from you.
One of the things He expects from you is to "mess up"...but He has provided a way for you to come back to Him, every time. Trust Him, and as you grow and mature in His Spirit, you will find yourself "messing up" less and less...one day, when the time is right, He will call you home to Him, and you will never "mess up" again.

Answer 10

I think you have a lifetime to work on overcoming your appetites. Romans 7:20-25 Paul struggled as well with these concepts. Just pray and work on improving every day until it gets easy.