"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."-Galatians 5:17
So any time someone lashes out at someone else we make the comment, "Your flesh is showing." It's usually said in a joking manner but we all still understand that it's a reminder of sin and the battle we're all fighting. Not only has this battle against the flesh been shown in the way we all interact with each other but I, personally, have also seen it within myself. The theme of this week was Dig Deep, a very appropriate theme for this point in time. It's been a real struggle to even get myself out of bed because I'm exhausted in every sense and if I'm honest with myself, the last thing I want to do is to go out and share my faith with people. And even when I do go out (mostly because I have to and that's what we're here to do) my motives so often turn into making myself look good and not about glorifying God. I start trying to do it on my own strength. That has required a lot of digging deep. Another way we've been digging deep is by slaying lies that we believe. We went through a chart, starting with an activating event that causes us to believe a certain thing or things. For example: an activating event could be not getting invited or not feeling accepted in some way. This then causes thoughts such as, "They don't even actually like me." or "They like other people more than me." The chart continues on to consequences. What things arise from this event/false belief. Perhaps, in my example these things are jealousy, anger, or insecurity. Then the final section is to point out truths that counteract the lies we are believing. This exercise has allowed us to be aware of our flesh showing and has also really gotten us to dig deep within our hearts and try to dig out the roots of sin.
Now to the second meaning. In Jamaica, there obviously are not a lot of white people. We clearly stick out. Especially me with my blonde hair and blue eyes. They rarely rarely see blue eyes. We often get hit on (sometimes subtle, sometimes not) whistled at, or just stared at. They also hold the assumption that since we are from America, we must be rich, and quite a few people just bluntly ask us for money. It's been tough to get used to, that's for sure. I've never been the minority in my life. As if our white skin doesn't make us stick out as it is, we then go around and approach people asking if we can talk to them about life and spiritual things. Awkward. But you know? Overall, I've learned to embrace it. They usually know why we're there. "You guys are missionaries?" we'll often hear asked as we walk around the city. Sometimes I love that word and being considered one, and other times I practically hate it. Everyone in the church loves and respects missionaries, but to people outside of it, you're kind of a freak. That just goes back to the battle between my flesh and the spirit though. I think the closet thing I can relate to is this verse:
Now to the second meaning. In Jamaica, there obviously are not a lot of white people. We clearly stick out. Especially me with my blonde hair and blue eyes. They rarely rarely see blue eyes. We often get hit on (sometimes subtle, sometimes not) whistled at, or just stared at. They also hold the assumption that since we are from America, we must be rich, and quite a few people just bluntly ask us for money. It's been tough to get used to, that's for sure. I've never been the minority in my life. As if our white skin doesn't make us stick out as it is, we then go around and approach people asking if we can talk to them about life and spiritual things. Awkward. But you know? Overall, I've learned to embrace it. They usually know why we're there. "You guys are missionaries?" we'll often hear asked as we walk around the city. Sometimes I love that word and being considered one, and other times I practically hate it. Everyone in the church loves and respects missionaries, but to people outside of it, you're kind of a freak. That just goes back to the battle between my flesh and the spirit though. I think the closet thing I can relate to is this verse:
"If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."-John 15:19 Now I've never necessarily felt hated but this points out that as Christians we should not be like the world and should almost be hated in a sense because of the way we live our lives. We are just different, especially in Jamaica. If you're a Christian, you should look different too. The Spirit of the living God lives inside of you and that's amazing. You'll definitely have an internal battle that sometimes spews outward, but that's what makes us different. Be grateful that you have such a battle to fight and that your flesh is showing.
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