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I found this quote buried within a post on Martha Becks blog. I am, of course, using it out of context….but wow...what far reaching implications!! As someone who has had a weight problem most of my life, I get this. I SO get this. But in "enlightenment" circles, in awakening articles...in some interpretations of scripture...in Buddhist theology, there is also the pervading belief that “my body is my enemy.” I must overcome the flesh.
Question then? Why did God put us in fleshly bodies if they are our enemy? Why did he choose to incarnate in a fleshly body as Jesus? Perhaps it is not so much that our body is our enemy, perhaps it is more so that our body must be reconciled with our spirit and then…and only then …will we be complete. Is this the hybrid (thanks Ron Sigler) that the NT speaks of? The new creation man? And the old man, the carnal man, that adamic man is the one who only knows himself as a body? Just musing....
3 comments:
There does seem to be a tension between our inner and outer beings. I wrote about this tension a while back at http://redeemed.kansasbob.com/2006/03/control.html.
Sorry it's taken so long to reply. I read the post you linked to shortly after you left this comment..and liked what you had to say. A few of the "like" snippets....
. Self Control is the exercise of the inner man over the outer man. Another word for the outer man is the flesh which is comprised of the mind, the body and the emotions. The inner man encompasses the spirit or heart of a man.
and...
Corinthians 10:3-5)
Did you catch the war between the inner and outer man ... how the mind is a part of the outer man and needs to be controlled by the inner man ... this is not only the heart of the control issue but it as at the heart of all spiritual life.
and....
When first confronted by fleshly desire the Holy Spirit will speak to the inner man - the inner man now knows what to do. The inner man will instruct the outer man and, depending on the strength of the inner man, the outer man will either submit or rebel. Did you catch that ... depending on which is stronger - inner or outer man. The issue of control now becomes one of strength. So the question is how do you get the inner man stronger? The book of Hebrews has an answer:
and finally....
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. (James 1:22)
From this we see that feeding on the scripture is not enough ... we need to integrate it into our life by doing it ... this will strengthen our inner man one bite at a time. Each time you obey the Scripture and Holy Spirit (even in a very small way) you pump spiritual iron. Each time the inner man is exercised it becomes stronger and more able to exert Self Control over the outer man.
Thanks for you comments Bob... and the link to your post.
Cindi......
Thanks for reading and for the encouraging words Cindi!
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