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Freedom to Rule
We have been given the freedom to rule our emotions and bodies of flesh. One of the challenges of life is determining what is truly freedom and what is a trap of deception.
Proverbs states, “Folly appears to be joy to the one who is destitute of discernment,” and that “his own iniquities entrap him and he is caught in the cords of his sin.” In other words, giving ourselves over to ungodly behavior may seem like freedom, but it is a snare. While foolish actions and sinful desires masquerade as liberty, they are luring us into bondage, and then we become slaves to our behaviors. Instead of ruling, our sins can become our rulers.
What seems like freedom from the perspective of the flesh may be the friendly hand of bondage. The Bible says the kisses of an enemy are deceitful, and the one who flatters is setting a net for our feet.[1] The trap of bondage presents itself as a friend until the shackles are in place. While this is true for deceitful people, it is even more true for our own deceitful heart. Consider the words of Jeremiah 17:9-10
9 ” The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, Even to give every man according to his ways, According to the fruit of his doings.
Our greatest deceiver is the human heart. The heart is where our passions, desires, and emotions reside. While the wisdom of the world says, “Follow your heart,” God has declared, “The one who trusts in his own heart is a fool, but whoever walks wisely will be delivered.” (Proverbs 28:26) To see the truth of this, look at the consequences around us. Prisons are filled with people who followed their heart. Adultery, theft, murder, manipulation, and any other sinful behavior comes from those who are following the desires of their heart.
According to Jesus, sin arises from the heart. He stated, “Out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witnesses, and blasphemies.”[2] Yet, Jesus also said, “He who believes in Me, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”[3] When the Bible uses the word ‘he’ in the general sense, it is like the word ‘man’. It applies to mankind as a whole – including women. This passage applies to all people and genders.
How can we trust our heart, seeing it can produce either sin, or waters of life? We can’t. It isn’t the heart we are trusting, it’s the Lord who reveals the true motives of the heart and gives to us according to the fruit of our doings. Those who trust in the human heart will reap the fruit of sinful flesh. Those who trust in the Lord will reap the fruit of the Spirit and see the life of God flowing through them.
While it may appear subtle at first glance, there is a vast difference between trusting in our heart and trusting in the Lord. There is a big difference between letting our hearts lead us and allowing the Lord to lead our hearts. The heart is selfish by nature; therefore, it will always look for self-gratification.
The move of the Spirit in our heart often calls us to set aside our quest for satisfaction, and beckons us to follow the leading of the Lord. We must trust in the promise that we will be satisfied through Him in the end.
The human heart searches for satisfaction through gratification, yet this is not possible. Gratification is the saturation of our desires, but it cannot fill the longing of our heart. If it could, money would satisfy the rich. Immorality would satisfy our lusts. Revenge would satisfy our sense of justice. The truth is, none of these ever satisfy. There may be a moment of perceived satisfaction, but it quickly fades, leaving us longing for something more. Oftentimes, it leaves us with guilt instead of satisfaction.
When a reporter looked at the Rockefellers and saw the incomprehensible wealth, he asked, “How much is enough?”
John D. Rockefeller answered, “Just a little bit more.”
This is the condition of the human heart. Enough is never enough. If you can’t learn to be satisfied with your life now, you will never be satisfied with life, regardless of any amount of wealth or gratification. When life settles into a norm, a discontented heart will always find another source of discontentment. This is why the Bible says, “The eyes of man are never satisfied.”[4]
Like the kisses of an enemy, letting go of control can give the illusion of freedom. An enemy gives the pretense of friendship through flattering words and false affection. Our foes do this to gain a position of strength before launching an attack.
Your emotions befriend you with desires, and passions that give the false sense of freedom and satisfaction. Letting go seems freeing at first, but when the consequences roll in, our lack of restraint becomes the chains of bondage.
It always feels good to let lust rule our lives – at first. Releasing anger feels like a relief at the moment of release, but what happens to unrestrained anger. Not only does it harm those around us, but it quickly becomes the master over our lives.
Emotions, desires, and passions can make good servants, but they make terrible masters. Just as we saw earlier, these desire to rule us, but we must rule over them. Otherwise, we will be driven by our desires instead of being led by the Spirit. Emotions, desires, and passions have a place in life, but their roles should be limited. These should be subject to us, not the other way around. In the lives of most people, these things step out of their God-given roles and usurp authority over us that should not belong to them.
Why does the violent man abuse his wife? Why do mothers abuse children? Or gamblers squander away the provisions of their families? Name any destructive behavior and at the center of the problem lies a heart ruled by passion. The heart is either submitted to God, or ruled by passions. We either exercise our volition to do what is right – regardless of how we feel – or we allow our heart to be ruled by the servants. Emotions will commit mutiny, and unless you learn how to bring them back under submission, you will lose control.
Let me reiterate that this book is written unapologetically from a Christian perspective. The reason is that God has given us the ways of life and being in control, but the victory of life is only promised through a life obedient to the Lord through the word He has given.
I once had a secular editor ask me if I could write how-to articles for the secular market. In some situations, the unbeliever can glean some help from biblical principles. However, the Bible is written from the perspective of a life founded upon Christ. Limited success can be found by correcting certain behaviors, but without a solid foundation, God’s principles are lacking in strength. Christ is the foundation of a solid life, and the Holy Spirit is the power which strengthens us to rise above human limitations. Without a new, Spirit-filled life, you are limited by the weakness of human nature.
The Bible refers to the failure of God’s people to keep the Old Testament Law. The scripture says what the Law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God accomplished through His son.[5]
The flesh is weak, and anything depended upon the flesh will fall short of God’s perfect plan. The Spirit of God is the power behind the Christian life. Godly principles dependent upon human effort will only have the power of the flesh. Godly principles founded upon the Spirit will have the power of God – and it is He who gives us His strength regardless of our weaknesses.
The overarching theme of this book is to teach you how to learn to abandon the flesh of human nature and walk in the power of God. This is how we become overcomers. It is not you becoming a better you. It is you accounting yourself as dead to the flesh and alive to God – as you were created to be.
All victory outside of God’s guiding hand is a temporary illusion. If you don’t think this is true, get to know someone who appears to have it all together. You’ll find they have the same problems as you. Some people hide their problems from public view better than others, but all have similar struggles. Have you ever seen someone have a sudden and unexplainable meltdown? People who have always seemed so happy, in control, and blessed, sometimes have a total breakdown without warning.
It could be a nervous breakdown, unexpected divorce, or they make a foolish decision which seems so out of character. The truth is, personal problems don’t suddenly arise. Problems percolate under the surface until they can be hidden no longer. The seams of life may come unraveled suddenly, but this is because something has been tearing at them for some time, and they now cannot keep it all under control.
As long as problems are small, many people can keep repairing the seams and hiding their struggles. But there are times in life when problems come too hard and too fast. Anyone can walk through a gentle stream, but let a flash flood come and even the strongest person will be swept away. That is unless they can get out of the stream.
The Bible gives us the promise that God will never give us more temptation than we can bear. He will always provide a way of escape. Temptation is not only the desire to sin, but it can be testing, trials, and anything that puts our lives to the test. God has promised to test us, but to those who trust in Him, He will not put on them more than they can bear. But what if the load we are carrying is not what God intends for us to bear? Consider 1 Peter 5:6-7
6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time,
7 casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
What if someone refuses to cast their cares upon Him? What if temptation is the result of refusing to follow God’s plan of escape? In these situations, we bear unnecessary burdens, and we must repent, or turn from our way. Part of repentance is casting our failures and weaknesses upon the Lord. We become strong, not because of our own abilities, but because we allow the Lord to bear our cares of this life.
Most of us have heard to cast our cares upon Jesus, but do we truly live under this promise? Here is the process most people follow. We start feeling emotionally taxed, so we pray for God to give us relief. We may say the words, “I’m laying this at your feet,” but our heart won’t let go. When problems continue to threaten, we’re afraid God isn’t going to handle it, so we carry the burden we claim to have laid down. As life continues to send things our way, the load grows heavier. We ask God to lift some of the weight off us, but it doesn’t seem to happen. Our lives get overwhelmed and we wonder why God doesn’t stop the flood.
Let’s stop for a moment and look at the promise above. It begins with an important command, which leads us to the promise. The Bible is filled with promises, but we don’t inherit the promises by claiming them. We inherit the promises by looking at the instructions which lead us to the promises. If we reject the instructions, we cannot lay hold of the promise.
In the above passage, we are first told to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God. It’s a twofold instruction. It is us taking the time to recognize who God is and to think upon His might. It’s to recognize that God is God and He is able to fulfill His word. And it is also an acknowledgment that He deserves our humble submission.
If I cannot humble myself and submit to the Lord, I will never see the fulfillment of His desire to lift me up. How this is done is determined by His will. He might exalt me over my stressful problems, or He may give me the power to walk victoriously in the valley of difficulty. God brings His honor through my life before the eyes of others so they can see the goodness of the Lord – not the glory of me.
As I humble myself under His mighty hand, I am putting life in its proper place. That includes my problems and cares. Pride says I have to help God carry my problems. When I recognize God is bigger than I am, and He is powerful enough to overcome my problems, I’ll be willing to cast my cares upon Him. It’s an act of faith.
Let’s stop for a moment to examine what it means to have faith. According to the Bible, faith is believing God to the point where we put our trust in Him. We are saved by faith and nothing is of ourselves. It’s the gift of God, not of works so no one can boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).
I was transformed into a new creation when I believed God’s promise to forgive my sins and give me a new life in Christ. I willingly let go of my life and allowed God to take away my sins and give me an eternal life, born in the Spirit of God. I did nothing except believe and allow God to do what He promised to do.
Those who cling to their old lives don’t trust God and cannot receive the new life. You may have met people like this. They say things like, “The gospel message sounds good, but I’m just not ready.” They can be miserable and their lives falling apart, but they just can’t let go. We also must learn to let go. Letting go of our sins so we can be forgiven is only the first step. We must also believe God has the power to not only forgive our sins and rescue our souls, but also has the power to rescue us through our daily lives.
The faith which gave us forgiveness and salvation is the same faith we live by in daily life. In the book of Galatians, the Apostle Paul rebukes the people by saying, “Are you so foolish, having begun by faith, you now think you are perfected by the flesh?”
In other words, God transformed you by faith to create this new life in Christ. Do you now think you have to use human effort to live out the new life of God?
Do we think God can transform us into a new creation, but now He doesn’t have the power to handle our problems? We must realize God’s power to transform our problems into His promise, and that all things work together for the good of those who love God, and are called into His purpose.
The same faith that changed your life is how you must now live your life. How did I receive Christ and become a new person? I believed His word. He promised if I confessed Him as Lord and believed His word, He would give me the promise of salvation. It was God’s work on my behalf.
How then do I cast my cares upon Him? I must believe His word. God promised that if I believe His word and humble myself under His hand, I will then have the right to cast my cares upon Him and He will not allow them to become more than I can bear. If my problems are more than I can bear, I know I’m not living in the promise.
Do you believe God?
The same holds true for overcoming my flesh and its passions. Look at the incredible promise of Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish
24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
What is the promise? If you and I walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The lust of the flesh is anything that wars against the Spirit. Anger wars against the Spirit. Guilt wars against the Spirit. Greed, envy, jealousy, lust, outbursts of wrath, hatred, bitterness, worry, anxiety and anything contrary to God wars against the Spirit. Yet we are promised if we walk in the Spirit, none of these things will be fulfilled in our lives. Even so, we struggle needlessly with all these things.
So how do we claim the promise? The same way we claimed the promise that Jesus died for our sins. God promised, you believed, and therefore, you willingly let go as God took your old life of sin and gave you a new life, born in His Spirit.
Now look at verse 24 above. You have been crucified with Christ. If you are Christ’s, this has been done. Past tense. When you received the life of salvation, your old life was done away with. Your sins, flesh, and the passions that go along with it was crucified with Christ. Was. Not will be.
Do you believe God? If so, this promise is yours. And now you can believe and step out of the flesh and walk in the Spirit. It is a choice. If you live in the Spirit – and you do if Christ has become your Lord – you now must choose to walk in the Spirit. To choose to walk in the Spirit is not to do something to make yourself more spiritual. It is to believe God and trust in Him to take the passions away just as He took your sins away. Look to the cross where your sins were crucified. It is done, but you have the right to take the flesh up again. Taking upon us the flesh and its passions is an act of disbelief. Walking in the Spirit is an act of faith.
This is a daily realization. The Apostle Paul said, “I die daily.” Our victory today will be forgotten tomorrow unless we take this step of faith. When the burden of the flesh rises up and wars against our minds, we can either submit to it, or submit under the hand of God. When I’m tempted, I must say to my flesh, “You are crucified with Christ. I believe God and therefore will walk in the Spirit.”
Keep in mind that the Bible says that we are changed into Christ’s likeness as we behold Him. Look to Christ and be transformed. You are a new creation. Allow God to transform your behavior from the flesh and into the new creation you now are in Christ.
It sounds simplistic, but it’s life-changing. To the unredeemed, the message of the cross sounds simplistic, but it too is life-changing. In fact, there is no other way. There is no other way to salvation other than believing the word of God and surrendering to the Lord through it. There is no other way to walk victoriously in the Spirit than to believe God and submit to Him through the commands and promises He has given.
Abraham believed God and his faith was accounted to him as righteousness. From this point on he walked with God. When you believe God, it is accounted to you for righteousness. When you believe, you submit, and have the promise that sin can no longer have dominion over you. This is the promise that whom the Son sets free is free indeed.
The flesh can only rule those who submit themselves to it. It provides the illusion it has the power to subdue you, but in truth, it’s a deception designed to convince you to submit back to your old life in the flesh. When it rises up, the battle is not even yours to fight. Submit to the Lord, believe the promise that your flesh – the very thing attempting to regain its former place – has been crucified with Christ.
The flesh and its passions are no longer yours. Believe God and allow Him to lead your heart. The work is the Lord’s and the only thing hindering this work is your lack of submission. The flesh seeks to rule over you, but God calls for your submission by faith in Him. It’s a promise that has been fulfilled and waits for you to take it.
Walking in the Spirit is a learning process. When you first start learning to walk by faith, the Bible calls you a baby in Christ. You grow through the word as you press toward spiritual maturity. Growth takes time.
People often get discouraged because they keep falling back into the fleshly way of thinking and living. They try, and fail. After a few failed attempts, they get frustrated and say, “I just can’t change,” or, “I’m just wired this way.”
That is true. From birth, you are wired for sin. But you are growing out of that childish way of thinking as you take in the word, and have the spiritual nourishment to grow. The Bible says that we start out with the milk of the word. That is the stage where we are fed by others. Then slowly we mature into taking in the ‘meat of the word’. That is the state where we are able to feed ourselves through prayer, Bible study, and applying it to our own lives.
When a baby grows to the point to where they start learning how to balance, they try taking a step. But they fall. Eventually, they begin taking two steps, then three, and soon they are tottering around, but walking. As they gain the skill to walk, they discover a whole new perspective in their world that they could never have had while laying on their back or crawling.
The same is true for you in your walk of faith. As you grow, you will start learning how to stand by faith and discovering life in the Spirit. Then you will take a step and fall. Instead of throwing your hands up and saying, “I can’t walk in this Christian life,” we should be taking a different perspective. “I took a step!”
Then get up, gain your balance, and take another step. God doesn’t scowl when we try to walk by faith. He rejoices that we took a step. He lifts us up when we fall, and comforts us when we get bruised. We keep pressing ahead as we learn how to walk in the Spirit, which is walking by faith, looking to Christ for everything. We have the promise that we have been given all things that pertain to life and godliness through God’s Spirit. We learn to add each promise to our lives by faith and receiving from the Lord. See 2 Peter 1.
It’s not an moment, but a growth process. While you are growing, the devil is using temptation and your own frustrations and emotions against you. But don’t forget, the battle is not yours to fight.
The flesh’s desire is for you, but you have the freedom to rule over it. By submitting to God, He exalts you to rule over your flesh and its passions.
Rule or being ruled
Let me state again something I said earlier – and will probably mention again before this book concludes. Emotions, desires, and passions make good servants, but terrible masters.
When someone is driven by their passions, they have no control over life. Think about someone known for their jealousy. Do they have complete control in their life? There are times when jealous rage takes over and becomes the driving force in someone’s behavior. The one with the jealousy is being driven to act out in ways that are destructive to both themselves and to other people.
A jealous man cannot trust his spouse. The passion controlling his thoughts causes him to suspect his wife of things she may not have even thought about. At least not until she is accused. Jealousy demands control. It becomes chains which strip all freedom and love from a relationship. Without trust and freedom, love can’t thrive.
I used a man as the illustration, but in many women this is just as much a problem as with men. It becomes a rage within which drives the possessor to mistrust, accuse, and to lash out against those who should be loved. It becomes the problem. While this passion claims to be protecting the relationship, it is actually destroying it.
This is also true for lust, anger, bitterness, or any other thing which attempts to rise up and bring us under its rule.
God created our emotions and they serve a good purpose – as long as they remain within God’s design. In fact, nothing in creation is evil by design. Everything God created in the beginning was declared by God to be very good. It is only when something steps outside of God’s intended purpose that it becomes sinful or destructive.
The Bible says, “Be angry and do not sin.” Anger is not a sin. It’s an emotion designed for a purpose. When anger is mixed with sin within our fleshly desires, it becomes destructive and sinful. Most destructive anger is self-focused. When I feel offended, I get angry. When I don’t get my way, I become angry. When I feel violated, I use anger to lash out at someone else. Many times our anger is not justified. We think it is, because we are measuring right and wrong based on the standard of selfishness, but in truth, selfish anger is almost always sin.
When I become angry, I will either problem solve or problem create. Problem solving is when I look at the situation that caused my anger and ask myself, what needs to be fixed? Sometimes the answer is, “Me. I need to be fixed.” If I’m angry because of selfish desires, I need to find ways to reshape my thinking and attitude.
Dealing with anger should begin with an evaluation. Does the thing that angers me need to be resolved? Ninety-nine percent of the things that frustrate us are petty and not worthy of the emotional energy we put into it. Yet we allow them to strip us of peace and put us on a destructive course of action. If I stop and take time to evaluate my anger, I’ll discover that sometimes the best way of solving the problem is to say, “This is petty and not worth my emotional energy,” and then toss it away. When we toss it away, we are not bottling up the frustration, we are rejecting the anger and the problem as being insignificant. If it returns to my mind, I toss it out again. If something continues to dominate my thoughts, it needs to be dealt with by either putting to death my flesh, or resolving a problem.
When my reaction to a problem becomes bigger than the problem, I become the problem. The issue can’t be addressed until I first resolve me. When I am under control, I can then focus on the cause of frustration.
Years ago I worked in the construction world. A coworker just returned from prison for murder. In a conversation he brought up his prison stint and explained how he murdered someone. The reason, “He disrespected me.” The man made a comment which offended him, so he killed him. And he still felt justified in his actions.
This is the result of allowing our passions to be the driving force in our lives. While we may not commit crimes, self-centeredness can and will cause harm to those around us and pride blinds us to our own behaviors. Pride disguises itself in many ways – including a false sense of righteous indignation and self-justification. When life is viewed through the lens of our passions, everything will be evaluated based on how it makes us feel. Then we can’t see how our actions are harming others in both big and small ways. Since we don’t feel violated, we don’t recognize when a problem exists.
When our lives are founded upon emotions, over-reactions to situations will become the norm, and we’ll have no other method of evaluating right and wrong, other than what we feel. Or at a minimum, our feelings will trump what we know to be right and wrong. We won’t even recognize our dilemma until consequences begin to arise – and even then, it’s easy to justify our actions in our own minds.
Many end up blaming the consequences of their actions on others. Though people are often their own worst enemies, they can feel as though they are the victim and others are to blame.
Continuous self-evaluation is essential. And we need a standard greater than our intellect by which to evaluate our lives. This is why the Bible says, “I the Lord try the hearts. I test the mind.”[6] Also, the scriptures have the power to separate our thoughts and intents of the heart and reveal our true motives.[7]
Through the scripture, the Holy Spirit judges our hearts, motives, and actions. When we have a seeking heart, the Lord will reveal what needs to change. We will either be Spirit led, or passion driven.
If you do not control your passions, they will control you. It’s a fact. It’s also something we all struggle with from time to time. Though some people are more susceptible to negative emotions than others, everyone struggles. Even though emotions are more difficult to control in some people, everyone can regain control. God has designed our minds in such a way that we can rule our feelings. The problem is we don’t want to resist our urges – whether it be lust, anger, jealousy, bitterness, or any other passion. It’s easy to allow ourselves to be carried, but we are called to stand firm.
I can be angry and not sin. I can overcome every negative emotion – even those which have ruled my life for years. It won’t be easy, but it becomes easier as the flesh loses its dominance on our minds. The real problem is when we need self-control the most, we desire it the least. In order to have a life under control, we must value the right things, recognize the danger of the wrong things, and lay a solid foundation now.
You and I prepare for temptation now – not when we need the strength to resist.
This is why Jesus compared those who take heed to His word to the man who spent years digging into the solid foundation of rock. It was hard work, but when the storms came, he was able to stand. Those who don’t do this are like the man built on sand. It’s easy to stand on sand when the storms are not hammering the foundation, but when the storms come, collapse is inevitable.[8] Now is the time to build your life on the right foundation. Unless you take heed to rebuild on the rock, your life is already built on sand.
Life Applications
- Memorize 1 Peter 5:6-7
- Jesus endured the cross by focusing on the joy before Him. Evaluate what you should focus on that has lasting value.
- Begin conforming your weaknesses to the likeness of Christ. Patience instead of anger, gentleness instead of outbursts, kindness instead of scorn, thankfulness instead of complaining.
- Contemplate on how these changes will benefit your life now and eternally.
- Think about the last time you blame someone else for a negative reaction. Regardless of how you feel about their actions, how can you handle your reaction in a way which submits to God so He can lift you up?
- The next time you react with a negative emotion, think about how you can submit your life and situation to God so He can lift you up.
- Think about what worries or bothers you. Pray to the Lord and put this care on Him and trust Him to resolve your heart and then resolve the problem.
- Acknowledge He has the right to use problems to refine your life and resolve problems after His will has been fulfilled in you.
- Daily take time to prayerfully die to your will and submit to walk in the Spirit. When the flesh rises up during the day, surrender to the Spirit each time.
- Take time to review Life Applications from other chapters.
[1] Proverbs 29:5, Proverbs 27:6
[2] Matthew 15:19
[3] John 7:38
[4] Proverbs 27:20
[5] Romans 8:3
[6] Jeremiah 17:10
[7] Hebrews 4:12
[8] Matthew 7:24-27