Someone sent me a reflection the other day that I would like to share with you. There was this ancient Indian that was teaching his grandson about life. Ht told the boy: there is a fierce battle being fought inside of me. And this battle is being fought inside of you and inside of every person in the world. It is a fight between two wolves. One is bad; he is anger, ill will, envy, sadness, remorse, avarice, arrogance, inferiorities, lies, pride, superiority and ego. The other is good; he is peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, generosity, benevolence, compassion, kindness and faith. The boy thought about it for a moment and asked his grandfather, which will win? To what he responded: the one you chose to feed. It is very obvious that this is not a Christian reflection, and the author is not known, but when I read it I found it to reflect a great truth about every human being. Therefore, today I want us to explore this internal battle that we all face on a daily basis, but most of all, so that we can discover what side we are feeding. Let’s now turn to the verses that we will be using today.
Romans 12:17-21 - Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head. 21Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
When we analyze these verses here, I think that without a doubt all of us here will agree when I say that here Paul is speaking very clearly about the internal battle that we all face. Here Paul is speaking to us about that battle that we fight in our minds on a daily basis between good and evil. As I have said on other occasions, our mind is the main battle field. I say this because it is in our minds that the feelings of wrath, disputes, avarice, revenge and fear are born. These negative thoughts are birthed in our mind influenced by the evil current that runs through this world. It is here where this battle between good and evil is fought, and if we do not take the time to strengthen ourselves with the Word of God and tap into the power of the Holy Spirit, then we will be unable to recognize the enemy attack and we will be defeated. How can we prevent from being defeated? The answer is simple; we can prevent being defeated by nourishing the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us with the Word of God.
One reality about Christianity is that not all persons are victorious in their walk. The main reason is that many have stopped reflecting in their actions, or lack of actions, something that leads us to stop recognizing our errors. As I have said on other occasions, none of us are perfect. All of us gathered here today, without exception, have faults and commit errors on a daily basis, and that is why we should reflect in out actions or lack thereof constantly to discover what could be the cause so that we can overcome them. Look at how this is something that is very well illustrated in Romans 8:6-8 when we read “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. 8So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God”. Tell the person sitting next to you, be spiritually minded. The problem that exists is that many of us fail to understand that we can be victorious in all situations; we fail to understand that we have the power to defeat all temptations. By this I am not saying nor implying that it will be easy. Furthermore, the internal battle is very difficult and in special occasions it can appear as something that can not overcome. But all of us that have made a true commitment with God; all of us that serve Him with all of out heart, all of us that have been reborn in the spirit and truth, we can overcome. This is something that is clearly stated in 1 John 5:4 when we read “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith”. And also in Romans 8:37 when we read “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us”. Tell the person sitting next to you, we are more than conquerors.
But his is something that we will be able to accomplish only when we nourish our spirit with the good, and we eliminate the impurities from our life. It is for this reason that in the verses that we are studying today we find that Paul said: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. In other words, what we are told here is not to feed or nourish those bad and negative thoughts that enter our mind; we can not nourish the desires of the flesh; we can not nourish or entertain any thought that seeks to separate us from God’s presence. What thoughts am I talking about? Let’s examine this a little closer with the purpose of discovering if on occasions we may be nourishing the bad in our life.
The truth of it all is that all of us here have gone through or are going through situations in our life that can at times discourage or depressed us, isn’t that right? These can be numerous; for example, it can be a health problem, it can be a financial problem, it can be problems with the family, husband, wife, son, daughter, mother, father; like I said numerous. But when these situations stop us or prevent us from serving God, when these situations or difficulties stop us from praising and blessing His name, then we have to recognize that we have stopped nourishing the good in us to nourish the bad. When this happens we must recognize that we are not overcoming the bad with the good, but rather we have allowed the bad to defeat the good in us. In other words, we have allowed the bad to separate us from God’s will; we have allowed the enemy to steal God’s blessings from our life. In essence, we have permitted our heart to be hardened and our spirit to be bound. Once this happens our thoughts and our heart are no longer in the proper place. When we empower the enemy to act in our life, the good will stop flowing from our heart, and only evil will be generated. Forgiveness, love, and patience will no longer flow from our heart. What will flow will be discouragement, rebellion, discouragement and disputes. We will stop seeing the daily opportunities that God offers us to glorify Himself, and disdain the blessings that He bestows upon us. Why does this happen? This happens because we are not nourishing our spirit at all times. We are not nourishing the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us.
When we nourish the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us, then nothing that can ever happen, nothing that can present itself, regardless of how difficult it may appear, will be able to defeat us. This is something clearly stated in 1 John 4:4 when we read “You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world”. When we nourish the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us we will receive conviction of our thoughts and actions. When we nourish the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us, then we will be guided in all situations. This is something very clearly reflected in the words of the apostle as we find in Romans 8:13-15 when we read “For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father”. Tell the person sitting next to you, allow yourself to be led. This is something that all of us should seek at all times; we must seek to be led in all situations. But the sad reality is that many do not allow themselves to be led because they are not nourishing their spirit with goodness, but rather they allow the desires of the flesh to deviate them from God’s will. But when we nourish the Holy Spirit that now dwells in us, then we will always move towards God’s presence. We have to do as the Lord tells us in Matthew 6:33 when we read “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you”. When we nourish the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, He will counsel us during all of those difficult or complicated situations, and will give us the peace that we yearn. Look at how this thought is very well reflected in Philippians 4:7 when we read “and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”. We can not allow the desires of this life to stop our walk; we can not allow the enemy to stop what God has initiated in our life. We must remain steadfast, we must remain faithful. Look at what the Lord tells us in Luke 21:34-36 when we read “But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. 35For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. 36Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man”. Tell the person sitting next to you, be watchful.
When we do not take the time to nourish the Holy Spirit that dwells in us, then it will be very easy for us to justify our faults; it will be very easy for us to justify all of those things that we know very well that displease God. It will be very easy to justify them, but the reality of it all is that they will only be justified in the ayes of man, and not God. Look at how this is very well reflected in the words of our Lord as we find in Luke 16:15 when we read “And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God”. As I have stated on numerous occasions, we can deceive man, but we will never be able to deceive God. When the though of: “there is nothing that I can do” enters our mind; when the though of: “I am powerless to stop this” enters our mind; when those thoughts that cause apathy, disappointment, fear, sadness, discouragement, and rage enter our minds, lets always remember that just like Jesus was able to defeat them by the power of the Holy Spirit, we can defeat them as well. This is something that Jesus clearly tells us in Luke 10:18-19 when we read “He replied, "I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you”. Let’s never forget that we serve a just God. God is just and He will never allow something to come over us that we will not be able to overcome. Look at how this is something that is clearly stated in 1 Corinthians 10:13 when we read “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it”. We can all be victorious, but only if we nourish our spirit at all times.
In closing. We must remain very alert because things that oftentimes seem insignificant have the tendency to grow and grow until reaching that point that they separate us from God. Let’s recognize that if we nourish thoughts of vengeance, apathy, anger, jealousy, depression and envy, then we have allowed the evil to triumph over the good in our life. As a church and as faithful believers, this is something that we can not allow. We can not nourish those thoughts, or better said, those demons that attack our mind to rob our peace, joy and the blessings that God bestows upon His people. Let’s always remember who we follow. Let’s always remember that there isn’t a battle that we can’t win in the powerful name of Jesus. Look carefully at the power of His name as we find in Philippians 2:9-11 when we read “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, 10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, 11and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”. Let’s always remember what we have been called to do, let’s remember that the apostle clearly tells us here “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good”. Reflect today and ask yourself, how is my battle going? Reflect today and ask yourself, what am I nourishing?
