We can either give into temptations or the desires of our flesh.
Temptations aren't really something we can control.
We don't know when or how we will be tempted. It has the advantage of catching us off guard, of appearing at the worst time & form. All we can do is be prepared to not give in whenever it may present itself.
On the other hand, our flesh is something we have better control over.
Our flesh is ours. We know what our flesh desires. We can control whether to give the flesh what it desires or not. Also, we can control what pleasures we expose our flesh to. The more worldly pleasures our flesh is exposed to, the more desires our flesh will have & the more struggle we will have against our flesh.
But before our flesh has worldly desires, we must first expose our flesh to such things.
We can control that.
I was watching a toddler at church on Sunday.
I have to admit he was really cute. But what really caught my attention is the way do such nice things that make them so adorable, for example, handing their snacks to a random stranger. This single action is full of love. It makes me wonder what goes through their mind~ it must be full of innocent thoughts.
Then I remembered a scene from X-men I read not long ago. It was when Madeline Pryor gave birth to Scott's (Cyclops) first baby. Rachel Summers, who has telepathic powers, decides to share the baby's thoughts with Kitty.
They both had tears. It must have really been something!
It was probably a mind that is completely pure, no thoughts of envy, hatred, or lust.
I can't begin to comprehend what it might have been like, after all I've exposed myself to. But I imagine it would have been completely serene, something that lifted the spirit up, made you want a mind like that.
It really must have been one of the most amazing things to experience ever - pure innocence.
On the other hand, many telepaths in X-men don't enjoy going into the minds of others. It's full of desires of the flesh, worries, anxieties, hatred. It really shocks them, makes them dread their power.
I think that this tells us that in all of us, there's a part that knows that we were made for innocence, that our minds thirst for a purity. Our minds was once clean & was just perfect.
But being born into this world inevitably exposes us to the brokenness of it.
Our innocence is tainted very quickly. Maybe you were born into a family full of violence, pornography, or alcohol. It's not the baby's fault they've been exposed to such desires of the flesh. But once they've been exposed, it becomes an option.
As we grow up, we also allow ourselves to be exposed to a lot of things. The friends we choose to hang out with, the places we decide to go to, or the times we decide to "cross the line" a little bit.. It's all further exposure into the world.
We were all made to be clean.
We weren't made for any of this stuff.
But once sin entered the world, things changed.
Our flesh was given these new options.
And now that we've been tainted, a lot of the time, we forget that we were all once innocent.
Innocence is so hard to get a grasp of nowadays.
Most of us have forgotten what it was be like to be as innocent as a baby.
To be so pure, to not be jealous, not be prideful, to enjoy our thoughts.
We've all been tainted with sin.
But Jesus says that's the only way we'll ever be able to see Him face to face.
Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God." - John 3:3 NLT
We must be like babies once again, completely innocent.
But how on earth is that possible right?
This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! - 2 Corinthians 5:17 NLT
All we have to do is belong to Christ to be made anew again!
Isn't that amazing? Just by belonging to Christ, all your sin, everything you've ever regretted all the filth you've let yourself into is gone. And on top of that, you have a chance to start again, have a new life, to be innocent once again. You also get to go to heaven! Is that an opportunity you would want to turn down?
Think about it..
Godbless~
Best of Me - The Letter Black
Once And For All - Disciple
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