Disciplining the Flesh

Today is all Saints day and one of the issues I would want to write about is on how to discipline the flesh.

As a Christian, you should know that you have three principal enemies: The flesh, the world and evil spirits. If you fail to have control over your flesh, it would only end up controlling you, leading you to offend the Lord.

It is very impossible to go to heaven or survive the Christian battle if you cannot at least overcome the first principal enemy - The flesh.
The flesh is something closest to you. It's your self and if you cannot overcome and control yourself, it would only end up as a wild animal and then devour you.

The flesh is like an animal and needs to be trained in order to under control. It is like a little child that needs discipline or else he/she would turn up bad.

In this context, the flesh represents all vain things that pleases our physical body but does no good to our souls. Things like gluttony, adultery, fornication, masturbation, self love, abortion, laziness, prayerlessness and so on. The flesh is the weakened state of man as a result of the scars of original sin which we inherited from Adam. Since then, man's nature has become that of sin and it really needs grace in order to overcome it.

One of the ways by which the Saints disciplined their flesh was by fasting. This involved going without food for a time being in order to focus on the spirit. Look at it this way, someone who chooses not to eat is denying his flesh of something basic to his survival. He tells his flesh that it will get food when the master decides. Fasting helps keep you in control over your flesh as you don't give to it, everything it asks for.

One of the sins that offend God greatly are the sins of the flesh since it defiles God's very own temple which is our body. We were created for God and he would only get jealous if we fail to take control of our own body.

The Saints took control of their flesh
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When you read the history and life of popular saints in the church, you'd find that most of them were involved in some form of physical mortification such as working long hours, fasting, praying and abstinence. Those are the common ways of disciplining the flesh.

In our modern world, there seems to be a lot of things that make us weak to sin such as prayerlessness, love for money, too much tv, peer pressure, party lifestlye, fashion and so on. These things are the weapon which the devil is using to overcome us. If only we knew that, then we'd wake up and take control of the situation.

Jesus overcame the flesh
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One of the first things Jesus did before beginning his ministry after John's baptism was to overcome his flesh and this he did by going into the desert. It was written that he fasted for 40 days and forty nights after being led by the Spirit. So, the spirit is willing to lead us, if only we are willing to follow. If the spirit leads you to fast, then you should fast.

Some Ways to discipline your flesh
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- Eating and drinking with moderation. Better to avoid alcohol
- Fasting and abstinence
- Long hours in prayer
- Less tv time
- Doing good work
- Not Living in too much comfort. Sharing with the poor
- Avoiding the sin of lust. Control the heart and occasions of lust.
- More scriptural study
- Listening to Christian music.
I hope this helps.