Stephanie
"Mortifying Your Flesh"
Mortifying me. Making dead those impulsively sinful responses and thoughts. Giving no power to my self-centered, self-inclined, self-indulgent, self. Boy, this is a deep operation.
1. What is the opposite of mortify? (p. 90)
“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For you are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God…Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth. (Col. 3:3,5)
My affection often lies with doing things that bring me the praise of peers. If I can squeeze in an extra project to wow the audience then I will look competent and creative. My affection is not focused on Christ and His will for me, but on shining the spotlight on myself.
Mortifying my flesh in this regard means only taking on those projects that will fulfill God’s will for me: make me a better help meet, mother or servant to others. And that line can get pretty blurry b/c there are a lot of needy people out there. But I must be discerning and choose the best projects/uses of my time.
2. What are my current battles of sin that need mortification? (p. 92)
I took a moment to do what the author said: “…take some time to identify the battles you are facing right now. Perhaps write them down. You need to have specific struggles of the flesh in mind when you go through this chapter.” So I wrote down the following:
Joy in marriage
Contentment with submitting to Jay when I would lead differently
Anger and impatience with M&M
Laziness in housework
Overspending on trivial things
Over-committing to projects that distract me from my family
I think all these root sins are listed in that section of verses in Romans 1---where all men are condemned for being totally depraved!
3. What happens when I try to fix these problems on my own? (pp. 96-97)
In the same way that I cannot justify myself, sanctify myself or glorify (eternally) myself, so I cannot mortify myself without the help of the Spirit.
The “brakes of self-discipline will give out and [I] will crash anyway.” Just like cutting out sugar from my diet. I can only go so long successfully before my self-discipline wears out and I eat a whole box of Junior Mints….and half a Cadbury’s Toffee cream bar. Hmmm. I just confessed for last night.
“[I] will make decisions about what [I] will or will not do based upon how [I] feel at the moment—not by the facts of what God has said is reality.” When I am feeling good and strong and full of energy, I make wise and right decisions about my family and marriage; but when I am over-worked, over-committed, over-stressed and generally over-the-top, I am unpleasant, mean, caustic and impatient. That’s not to mention how I respond to my need for exercise!
4. How can I NOT feed my flesh? (p. 101)
Honestly, sometimes I know when I am indulging my sinful habits. I turn off my conscience and just wallow. But sometimes, when I liken myself to Lot, I don’t know how to extricate myself from an environment that will tempt me to sin and be impatient.
“To begin with, his (Kirk’s) soul was worn down daily by the wickedness of the people around him at work. He was daily exposed to ungodly attitudes, conversation, values, and temptations. Like Lot (and me), his justified soul was ‘vexed’ (literally worn down or tortured) ‘from day to day with their unlawful deeds.” I am living with 2 little sinners and their constant acquiescing to sin makes it a spiritual hot house for me! I do feel like Lot, worn down by the sinfulness of those unsaved people around him.
“Consequently, his work was not a joy to him.” I battle this too. If I could only live with joyful, spirit-minded people, I would enjoy my work more! Right. That’s pie-in-the-sky thinking. Even if I worked with perfect people, I would still end up being disgusted with my own wickedness and bent toward sin.
