The Struggle Is Real

“5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.” (Romans 8:5)

You’re not alone. I struggle so much with eliminating the deeds of the flesh and living by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you’re a Christian, then you probably know how the apostle Paul himself struggled with the flesh, living by his fleshly will, compelled not to obey God’s will, yet desiring to obey Him; it is a battle of the mind and body (Romans 7:14-25). And it will be the same for you, too, though you may not see it or refuse to believe it. This is the story of struggle for us all. It’s the ‘Hero’s Journey’ where you get to realize that you were never the hero – God is! Until you decide to let God be first, you cannot actively place Him first.

God’s will is that your will be conformed to His will. Giving up your day, week, or life to God seems counterintuitive and counterproductive. At least, this is how you think on a horizontal plane. However, on a vertical plane, and as a Christian, God (speaking through Paul) asks you to be a living sacrifice and to be completely transformed in your thinking (Romans 12:1-2). But don’t be dismayed. It is the most productive and fulfilling way to live (Proverbs 3:5-6; Matthew 16:25)! God’s will is the best for you (Jeremiah 29:11-13; Philippians 2:12-18), though you may not see it right now.

It’s a relationship with God, not religion. God, being all-knowing (Isaiah 40:28; 1 John 3:20), understands you have things to do, bills to pay, families to support, people to see, and places to go. He doesn’t expect you not to do any of these and to live some monkish life (Psalm 139). That’s not what it means to put God first in your life! I repeat, putting God first doesn’t mean living like a monk! This is not a religion. God hates religiosity (rules and regulations to try to gain favor with Him). Even the ordinances that God Himself has appointed to man, when done without the right heart for God, are vanity. God hates it, does not accept it, and opposes such godless deeds (Amos 5:21-23). Such vanity is an abomination and a weary burden to God who desires purity from evil (Isaiah 1:11-16), not the appearance of godliness (Proverbs 21:27;2 Timothy 3:5). Indeed, He delights in the prayers of the upright (Proverbs 15:8), not the abominable prayers of those whose hearts are displeasing to Him (Proverbs 28:9). God considers obedience to what He says as far higher than dead works from wayward hearts (1 Samuel 15:22). He wants you to consider the evil that you do, to choose to walk in righteousness and have the readiness to hear His voice (Ecclesiastes 5:1). All these manmade rules, regulations, and traditions can place a burden on you (1 John 2:15-16; 1 Corinthians 6:12-14); God doesn’t want you to live under this heavy load (Matthew 11:28-30) but instead to live by His power (1 Corinthians 4:20; 2 Corinthians 4:7). Above all, God desires your full affection and attention, not because He needs it, but because He knows this is what is best for you. Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30)?

This is a relationship with Jesus, your Savior and Lord. Before Jesus gave Himself up as the Lamb, and while living to fulfil the law, He said that loving God required perfect obedience to His Words, after which God then abides in the person (John 14:23). But who has ever done this perfectly apart from Jesus? Indeed, no one could. Jesus did for you what you could not do for yourself. For this reason, as a born-again Christian you can boldly and confidently approach the throne of grace and mercy (Hebrews 4:16). He lives in you and empowers you to live for Him through your faith in His love and sacrifice for you (Galatians 2:20)! It has switched! It is no longer obedience to obtain love, rather, is now love that compels to obedience. He enables you to love Him (1 John 4:19). You can give Him all your distresses and weaknesses, and none of it separates you from His love (1 Peter 5:7).

This is a relationship through the power of the Holy Spirit. If you are born again in Christ, then you are a new creature, reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:17-18). He classes you as His beloved child; what love (1 John 3:1)! Since you have His Holy spirit, you ought much more to walk uprightly (Galatians 5:25). Do you walk in agreeance (Amos 3:3) with the Spirit who lives inside you? Are you allowing Him to keep you walking in a manner pleasing to Him through His power (1 Peter 1:3-5)? Such a spiritual rebirth enables you to not only to grow in your love for God, but to love others as yourself (1 John 4:7).

Will you surrender to Him? Start by praying that the Holy Spirit can cause you to understand how you cannot direct your own life rightly and that such attempts always fall short of God’s standards and lead to destruction. Will you yield your will to Him? Pray for the willingness to surrender your entire life to God (Matthew 16:25; Philippians 2:13).

Will you trust Him? Pray for the understanding of God’s trustworthiness (Psalm 18:30; Hebrews 3:6). God may need to lead you through some trial to gain practical insight on His dependableness and your need for to depend on Him (James 1:1-17).

How does all this work in practice? How is it that God expects you to have Him as the core of your existence? How does it work in principle? And how can you trust God with the consequences? Now that you understand your core need of letting God be first over your will and life, let’s get deeper.

Front and Centre

“17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Colossians 1:17)

Will you let God be your epicenter? Are you ready to give God His rightful place in your life? ‘Putting God first’ can be more clearly defined as giving God His rightful place in all your being and doing. All your activities should be done through God and for God. It revolves around Him, and it gravitates toward Him. You seek His will (Provers 3:5-6). Likewise, with all your attitudes, it’s all done to please God and conform to His image (1 Peter 1:14; Ephesians 4:24). If you are a born-again Christian then God has predestined you to become Christlike (Romans 8:29). And it is by the Holy Spirit that you are being transformed into His glorious image (2 Corinthians 3:18). You must ‘put on’ the new man, “…created in righteousness and true holiness…” (Ephesians 4:24), “…renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him…” (Colossians 3:10).

This is not a single daily activity. Rather than prioritizing a single God-focused activity, then getting on with life – like a 5-minute devotional or attending a church service – do everything in life to the glory of God as an act of worship. Eat to the glory of God. Walk to the glory of God. Work to the glory of God. Rest in the glory of God. Be of service to the glory of God. Speak to the glory of God. Likewise, with all everything you do and are – all for Him. With a whole heart, work as if for God and not men, to please Him (Colossians 3:23-24; Ephesians 6:7). Let sacrificial love be the motivating factor in everything you do (1 Corinthians 16:14).

Don’t stop there. Every single activity or attitude should be progressively conformed to God. This means actively ‘putting off’ the old man, corrupted and deceived by the lusts of the flesh, and ‘putting on’ the new man and living in a renewed spirit and mind (Ephesians 4:22-24). Jesus is working on you, sanctifying us through His Spirit, as God has ordained from the very beginning (Ephesians 2:10). Let your life be a living sacrifice to following God, and walking in His love (Ephesians 5:1-2). Paul said to follow him because he is following Christ (1 Corinthians 11:1). May you grow up and mature in Jesus (Ephesians 4:13-15).

You do need specific time with God. Don’t get me wrong; it’s necessary to prioritize God-focused time and activity. You need to set aside specific time – as you do with any relationship, in fact, more so with God. You ought to align your day or week with Him. But what I am emphasising is involving God and seeking His input in all situations (John 15:5; 1 John 5:14-15), whether that be through an attitude of honoring, worshipping, and glorifying Him in every single activity or attitude, or through specific God-focused time.

“But that’s a lot of work!” you plead, “I don’t have God on my mind 24/7.” That’s right. To prioritize God in everything, you must be mindful of God in all things (Isaiah 26:3-4; Romans 12:2). But you don’t do this by your own strength or ability but by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit (John 16:13; 1 John 2:27; 2 Timothy 1:7). So, be at ease, soldier. “But you don’t understand. I don’t have time for that!” It’s not complicated. You talk to God. You involve Him in what you’re doing. You ask His guidance on decisions. It’s simple. It’s a relationship. It’s not perfection, but progression! You use all things that happen as opportunities to connect with God. Temptations and triumphs. Everything. These things flow naturally from a relationship with God. If you try to do these things independently, it is a lot of work! This is why you need to be fully surrendered. When you do, all this comes easily.

How It Works

“5I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” (John 15:5)

Are you aware of God? Begin by practicing an awareness of God’s presence and power in all situations. You can only maintain the changes once you become aware of Him in the everyday moments. Be mindful of God (Psalm 91:1-16).

Is God the center of your employment, business, service or ministry? Work becomes an act of worship before God. I don’t mean that you worship your job! Instead, you make God a priority in your work (Proverbs 16:3). You involve Him, do it by His strength, for His glory, and place Him at the center of it (Ephesians 3:7). In all you do, it revolves around loving and pleasing God.

Is God the center of your home life? Even the house chores? You can make cleaning the house an act of worship! You can sing praises to God (Ephesians 5:19-20), thank Him for granting you the home and all your possessions, and worship Him by being a good steward of what He has provided to you (1 Timothy 3:5).

Is God the center of your relationships? In all your interactions with people, you place God at the center by seeking to reflect His character to others and treating them as God Himself does (1 John 4:11). Whether you’re married or single, kids or not, parents or not, friends or not, employers or not, employees or not, coworkers or not, neighbors or not, church family or not, or with strangers – interact all to the glory of God.  

Do you seek His guidance? Is God the center of your finances? Do you spend recklessly on yourself or are you cautious? Do you horde it for yourself or do you give freely to others without expecting anything in return? This doesn’t mean giving everything away – unless your finances are an idol in your life like the rich man in the book of Matthew. You tithe as an act of worship to God. You entrust the consequences to God, who has blessed you with the ability to work, provision of a job and the means to have the money in your possession. Your primary concern is laying up treasure in heaven, not with the treasures of this temporary life (Matthew 6:19-21).

Is God the center of you? By this I mean your will, your character, your mind (Ephesians 4:24)? But this can also include all your hobbies, skills, talents and abilities (Colossians 3:17). You cannot serve two masters (Matthew 6:24). What other areas of your life have you placed or not placed God as the center?

All of this seems to be an arduous task. I can appreciate that. But if your heart is aligned with God, your will surrendered, your character conformed to His image… then all of this is a natural outflow. Your life will be better. God will cause you – as He reveals to you and you yield to Him – to give Him His proper place. But you must not kick God off the throne of your heart and try to do things your way. At some point you probably will. But remember: you cannot live a God-first life without God! And without you, He won’t.

Trust God With the Consequences

“33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)

Why are you so afraid? I believe it’s because you are not trusting fully in God. You still think that you know best. You need to surrender your pride and humble yourself before your Holy God; to seek Him and His ways (2 Chronicles 7:14). Those who do humble themselves are exalted by Him (Matthew 23:12; 1 Peter 5:6), lifted up in His sight (James 4:10), and find riches, and honour, and life (Proverbs 22:4).

God is trustworthy. Pray for the understanding to know God’s character AS He revealed Himself in His Word (Deuteronomy 7:9; Deuteronomy 32:4; Psalm 100:5; Hebrews 3:6). He loves you and promises to care for your every need (Philippians 4:19; 2 Corinthians 9:8). Will you trust Him today, tomorrow, next week, next year? Will you trust Him with your life? Will you let go and let God? It is an act of faith in the person of God.

Let go and let God. Let go of control, time, money, possessions, people, activities, desires, obsessions, compulsions, everything! It’s a scary thing, which is why most of us are not prepared to do it. But if you only knew who God is and His trustworthiness, you would completely abandon yourself to His care without any second guessing.

Make godliness a way of life. The concept of prioritizing God involves more than a change in thinking and doing. As already discussed, it’s a surrender of your will. But it’s also a way of life. It’s a daily submission to the One who loves you and has His best in mind for you. God will lead you, and it may not be in the direction that you want or wish. But guaranteed it will be the direction of what God – in His sovereign wisdom – knows is what you need.

How It Applies To You

“13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” (Philippians 4:13)

Are you willing? Do you want to please God? Are you prepared to lay down your life for your Lord, who laid down His life for you? Is your life surrendered for the service of your Master? How can you make God a priority in your whole life? How can you place God at the center of each activity you do, with each personal interaction?

Will you give God your heart? If God be first over you, as Lord, then He will enable you to do everything through Him and for Him. If you accept that God knows best for you, loves you, and will provide your every need – if you trust the consequences of letting go into the capable control of your trustworthy God – if you seek to worship Him, involve Him and seek to please Him in all you do, in all your thinking and doing – if you let go and let God – then you are living the principle of this message. When God rules your heart’s throne, everything will fall into place.

Give God your heart. Most of us are not there yet. Don’t beat yourself up. Start with the willingness. Lay down your will at the foot of the cross. Understand it will take time to actively give God His proper place in all your being and doing. But don’t let this stop you from pursuing a God-centred life that glorifies Him. There is grace enough to stumble (Psalm 37:24; 1 Corinthians 10:12). Stay walking in the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:25) and stay connected to the truth of God’s Word (2 Timothy 3:14-17). You will find a peace you’ve never known when the Prince of Peace is given His proper place in your heart.

Go one day at a time. How can you place God at the center of your life just for today?

“13 Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” (Romans 15:13)