THINK TOGETHER.
Does your family ever fight? What makes your family fight each other?
READ TOGETHER.
Galatians 5:16-17. 16So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
When a person becomes a Christian, things in their life don’t necessarily become easier. In fact, in one very important way they become harder. No matter what is happening outside of the Christian, inside of the Christian there is a fight going on between the Holy Spirit and the flesh.
What is the flesh? The flesh is the Apostle Paul’s word for that part of us that still wants to be selfish even though we have Jesus in our hearts.
Do you sin?
Do you ever do selfish things?
Do you ever lie, say bad words, get angry?
Do you ever seek your own way, fight with your siblings, and fail to obey mom and dad?
Do you ever think you’re better than someone else, show off, or try to prove how good you are?
That’s the flesh. Paul says that the flesh inside of us has desires. It wants to do the wrong thing. But he Holy Spirit inside of us also has desires. He wants to do the right thing. And so the flesh and the Spirit are in a fight inside of you. Sometimes you let the flesh win and sometimes you let the Spirit win. Sometimes you do the wrong thing and sometimes you do the right thing.
This conflict, this fight is going on inside of every Christian. This is why the Christian life is never easy. When a Christian listens to the flesh, the Holy Spirit will make that Christian feel sad inside, and that’s a good thing; we should feel sad if we sin. But Satan will try to make that Christian feel guilty, like God doesn’t love them anymore.
But he does. God always loves us, not matter what. And God has already forgiven us. How do we know? Because he lives inside of us!
Can you tell that this fight is happening inside of you? The fight between the flesh and the Holy Spirit? I hope so. And remember, this fight inside of us is a normal part of being a Christian. The flesh and the Spirit will fight each other until the day you go to Heaven. But don’t worry, the Spirit will always win the fight. God always wins every fight. He has already won the fight for your heart.
Because of the Holy Spirit inside of us there is a battle with the flesh.
With the Holy Spirit we don’t have to listen to our selfish flesh anymore, we can listen to God.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
The flesh and the Spirit fight each other through our desires. Have each family member write down three things that they desire. Talk about how the flesh could use that desire for selfish things. How can the Spirit use that desire for Jesus and his glory?
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, you never lose a fight and you won’t lose the fight inside of me. Amen.
TLICfamily 