Question for everyone?

Question

I've noticed when I do good things to people..I feel good about me...I feel light, it makes me feel I made a difference etc...I really like that feeling and I wish it was that way all the time...

but it's not

then we have the dog in me...the other day a guy cut in front of me...I had to slam on my brakes or I would have been in a wreck...then I yelled as loud as I could (not proud of me at this point) and called him %&#@!%$#@$%$#@ and every other name I could think of.

This made me (later) feel very bad about myself, I hated the way I felt...I felt heavy...not light like when I do good deeds...

would both of these situations be considered a spiritual thing...a spirtual battle if you will.

or is this just me?????????


what do you think?

Answer 1

Welcome to the body of Christ! If you weren't a believer, you would not care whether your behavior was good or not. So take courage, everyone has the same problem, including the Apostle Paul.

15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

21So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. 22For in my inner being I delight in God's law; 23but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. 24What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!

(Romans 7:15-25)

Answer 2

Just last night on the way home I was thinking about that spiritual feeling you get from religion. It's been a long time since I felt that from religion, but I have felt it and know how it feels. I was thinking about being an atheist, and how that can cut you off from that feeling. Thinking that trees are pretty just isn't the same....

And then I realized that I get the exact same feeling when I do good. Really good things, not just politeness like letting someone in line ahead of me.

So to answer your question, I would say yes, that feeling is a spiritual feeling.

And I think you could say that trying to control some emotions, such as anger, disappointment, etc. could be described as a spiritual battle.

Answer 3

Only those who are right with God have a spiritual battle. Those who are without God are spiritually dead. That's why Christ said "you must be born again". Only those who are born again engage in a spirtual battle with sin.

Answer from an honest heart: Ever lied (even once)? Stolen (the value is irrelevant)? Then you?re a lying thief. Bad news huh? There?s more. Have you had sex out of marriage? If so, you?re a fornicator. Jesus said, "Whosoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her in his heart." If you have hated someone, the Bible says you?re a murderer. What?s more, you have a conscience (con-science means "with knowledge"), so when you sin, you do it with knowledge it?s wrong.

Bearing in mind that God is perfect, and that He has seen your thought life, when you stand before Him on Judgment Day will you be innocent or guilty? You know you will be guilty, and end up in Hell. Perhaps you don?t believe that. That means there?s more bad news for you, because it will happen anyway no matter what you believe. That brings us to the good news: "God commended His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Jesus Christ took your punishment, then He rose from the dead and defeated the grave. That?s good news because if you repent and trust Him, God will forgive you and grant you everlasting life - what better news could there be! So, read the Bible daily and obey what you read, and God will never let you down.

Answer 4

You could look at it as a battle of good vs. evil in you. (Everyone goes through this battle, by the way.) Or it could be just a battle between the superego and the id. Have you ever noticed, In cartoons, that whenever a character is trying to decide what to do, a little angel will pop up on one shoulder and a little devil will pop up on the other one? The angel is the superego and the devil is the id.

The superego and id really don't represent "good" and "evil", per se. The superego represents the enlightened, thoughtful side of human nature and the id represents our animalistic tendencies and most basic of emotions (anger is one of them). But because popular belief tells us we are not animals, the id is portrayed as evil and/or undesirable. It's still there, though, and nothing's going to change that.

So, it's really not a spiritual battle as much as it is a psychological battle. As long as no one gets hurt, it's okay to get mad. In fact, it's normal.

Answer 5

Us Buddhists call that "attachment to the conscience", and it developes a sense of attachment to the inner-parent, known in freudian psychology as the super-ego. This is not a good thing to do, in Buddhism it is believed that if you commit or fail to commit an act because of concientous repurcussions, then it negates the positive influence that that act has upon you. We must not do good acts to gain that warm fuzzy feeling, nor should we avoid bad acts in order to stop guilt, but rather we should do them for the benefit of all mankind.

“Pain and happiness are simply conditions of the ego. Forget the ego”
- Lao Tzu -

Answer 6

It is a fairly well defined psychological reaction called "fight or flight syndrome."

And is the result of the perception of being threatened.

Humans are social or herd animals and our natural instinct is to want to get along with others, so feeling "good" when you are getting along with others is also a very natural response shared by all animals, not just humans.

May I suggest you visit a zoo or watch animals in their natural habitats? You will observe the exact same behavior in nearly all animals.

Answer 7

Romans 7:19-25
[19] For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do--this I keep on doing.
[20] Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
[21] So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me.
[22] For in my inner being I delight in God's law;
[23] but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.
[24] What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?
[25] Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!
So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin.

Answer 8

I think you have not yet decided which side of the battle against good and evil you are on... but from your post, if it is honest, it seems you are leaning towards the good side... keep leaning that way and it will be a soft landing.

Answer 9

Yes, in Buddhist terms that is called "ten thousand worlds in a single thought". You might see someone you know across the street and that sight of that face will change your day for the better or the worse depending on your thoughts and attitudes.

Answer 10

Yes, it's Spiritual warfare...

We are being pulled two ways...

The Spiritual side of us that seeks out the Lord and serving Him...the other side is the flesh (wanting to do whatever we want).