Battle Against Fleshly Thinking

Let’s talk about the specific battleground of **the tongue**. James 3 says the tongue is a fire, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. But when you’re in the middle of a "flesh vs. spirit" showdown, the flesh doesn't think it's dealing in poison—it thinks it's delivering justice.

This is the tragedy of **The "Righteous" Information Exchange**. ### The Setup You’ve had a great week. Your devotions have been on point, you’ve been praying for your enemies, and you feel a deep, supernatural peace. You are practically radiating fruit of the Spirit. Then, you run into a friend at the grocery store or the church foyer, and they drop a heavy piece of news about someone you both know—someone who has, frankly, been a bit of a thorn in everyone’s side lately.

*"Did you hear what happened with Bob?"* Instantly, the alarm bells sound in your soul. ### The Inner Monologue **The Spirit:** *"Abort mission. Change the subject. Ask about the weather. Ask about her kids. Walk away. Do not look into the abyss."* *

*The Flesh:** *"Wait, hold on. We aren't gossiping. We care about Bob. If we don’t know the specific details of his total administrative failure, how can we truly pray for him with precision?"*

**The Spirit:** *"You don't need a play-by-play of his mistakes to pray for him. God knows the details. You just want the juice."* **The Flesh:** *"That hurts. My heart is entirely pure here. This isn’t gossip; it's a ministry briefing. We are gathering intelligence for the Kingdom."* ### The Compromise The flesh realizes it can't just come out and say, *"Give me the dirt!"* because that sounds unholy. So, it deploys the ultimate spiritual camouflage:

**The Prayer Request Pivot.** You look at your friend, lower your voice by an octave to sound deeply burdened, and say: *"Oh, wow. No, I hadn't heard. But honestly... my heart just breaks for him. How can we be lifting him up right now? What exactly... are the logistics of the situation so we can intercede?"* Boom. The flesh has just successfully baptized gossip. For the next ten minutes, you listen to a masterclass in hearsay. Your eyes are wide, your jaw is dropped, and every time the story gets particularly scandalous, your flesh is absolutely throwing a party. But to keep the spirit quiet, you occasionally nod solemnly and throw in a heavy, spiritual sigh, or a *"Lord, have mercy,"* just to keep the "ministry briefing" framing alive. ##

# The Aftermath You part ways, promising to "keep Bob in your prayers." You walk to your car, and that supernatural peace you had ten minutes ago? Totally gone. Instead, your mind is spinning with drama that has absolutely nothing to do with you. You feel sticky. You realize you didn't actually want to pray for Bob; you just wanted to feel a little bit better about yourself by hearing how badly Bob messed up. The spirit is grieved, sitting in the passenger seat shaking its head. Meanwhile, the flesh is in the driver's seat, gripping the steering wheel, completely fueled by the adrenaline of someone else’s drama, wondering who else needs to be "lifted up in prayer" this afternoon. > *"Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips."* — Psalm 141:3 > Because if you don't, the flesh will turn a prayer chain into a hotline for tea every single time. Mark 7:20–22 “And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

What is Fleshly Thinking?

Galatians 5:16–21 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Fleshly Thinking is operating with no or little regard to the presence or power of God

Self at the center: decisions mainly driven by “What benefits me?” rather than “What pleases God and loves others?”

Ignoring or resisting God’s commands: knowing what Scripture says but treating it as optional, negotiable, or unrealistic

Patterns of the “works of the flesh”: things like sexual immorality, hostility, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, division, envy, and drunkenness

Notice: a lot of this can look “normal” or even admirable in our culture (ambition, self-reliance, “do you”)

Sometimes you are not battling the Devil you are battling yourself!!

What are the Results?

Spiritually destructive behavior

Romans 8:5–7 “For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.”

Relational Breakdown

Look at some of the things-- jealousy, envy. rivalries, divisions- these are relationship killers

Many Christians wonder why they cannot sustain Christlike relationships, while following the desires of the flesh

Like spraying round up on a flower bed.

A Quenching of the Spirit

Ephesians 4:30–32 “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

Putting on headphones- overrides one voice with another

Store employees and air pods

Loss of fellowship with Christ

Romans 1:21–25 “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”

God does not cause men to sin, nor does He make them bad. Rather, He simply lets them harden themselves, as a punishment for their wickedness.-R.C. Sproul,

Tug of War

What defines a Christian is not the absence of fleshy thinking, but that we fight against it

Galatians 5:17 “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

1 John 1:8 “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”

How Do We Win the Battle?

SLOW DOWN

Often times we get ourselves in trouble because we do not slow down and think about a desire and where it comes from

Instant gratification is often the enemy of discipleship

Anchor yourself to the Bible

You can’t win a battle if you do not know your enemy

The Bible defines the flesh vs the spirit

2 Timothy 3:16 “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,”

Lean on the Holy Spirit

You cannot win a spiritual battle on your own

Let the HS keep you from sin

Galatians 5:16 “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

John 16:8 “And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:”

How do you keep from getting poison ivy? Stay out of it in the first place!

Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.”

Label Desires

Not every thought is a good thought and not every good thought is a God thought

“Is my main driver here self-advancement or God’s pleasure?”

“Am I treating God’s commands as hard limits or as suggestions I bend when inconvenient?”

“Does my thinking lead toward love, joy, peace, patience or toward envy, irritation, control, and division?”