Living for the Flesh

Romans 8:5-8 says, "For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God."
I read verse 8 for the first time the other day and I read it over and over in my head to let it sink in. "And those who are in the flesh cannot please God". This struck me right to the heart as I know that I have fed into my flesh, nourished my flesh, and caused grief and sorrow to my Father in Heaven. I know that I can't be pleasing God in my actions but I continue in my sin and I continue to do the things I hated. Romans 7 comes to mind and verse 15 which says, "For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate." I am overwhelmed with the thought of my deliberate sin issues and how sometimes I am sinning while at the same time thinking in my head, "This isn't pleasing God right now. What am I doing?!" My flesh is weak and I do the exact things that I hate doing. Romans 7:17-18 answers this thought for me. "So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not."
How can sin "dwell" inside a Christian if they have Christ living in them? Christ and sin cannot dwell together. Christ can overcome sin and we can follow Him, love Him, obey Him, and serve Him...we can do the things we love. A true follower of Christ wants to please his Master, not sin against Him. But because we are sinful humans, our flesh is weak and we don't live a life that is fully honouring to Him.
It seems easy to live for the flesh because we live in a fleshly society. Everywhere you go, there is promotion of flesh. Walk into a grocery store and your eyes can fall onto the front page of a magazine promoting a woman or man's body. Stroll through the local mall and notice that each clothing store sells immodest clothing...that includes low cut shirts, skin tight pants and shirts, mini-skirts, short low-cut dresses, six-inch tall high-heel shoes, and guys clothing that leads others to stumble. We go into a restaurant and the waitresses are clothed seductively. Go on the Internet and ten advertisements will come up asking you if you are "searching for a mate", "searching for a hot Christian to date", "wanting to lose so many pounds in only two weeks or less". Even step into church on Sunday and take notice of the girls dressed immodestly and watch them flirt with the boys in their youth group. Flesh. Flesh. Flesh. It seems that is what our world is about. Nothing else matters.
If we are true Christians, we are set-apart from this world. We are aliens and strangers passing through and our goal is eternal life in heaven with our God and our King. We live in this world but we don't belong to this world. We are not like this world, we do not believe this world's lies, and we don't associate with the perverse things of this world.
We need to be radical. We need to not conform to this world but to live completely set-apart lives for Christ and His work for us. We need to live differently because we are different. We have Christ in us. Christ has saved us from our former state of darkness and has brought us into His glorious light. We are His and we need to be ever grateful for His mercy on us. A way that we can live for Him is to deny ourselves. Don't feed into your flesh. Don't do the very things you hate. Don't be conformed to the world. Live for Him and in everything you do, do it for the glory of God. It is a battle against our own flesh and a battle we can't fight alone. Depend and lean on God for help and guidance. Ask Him today for strength for tomorrow and for the rest of your life so that you can put aside all fleshly desires and replace them with a desire for Christ and His truths. And if you live not in the flesh but set your mind on the things of the Spirit, you will be pleasing in God's sight.