Bread of Life Voice

Gal 5:24 – Those who belong to Christ has crucified the flesh with its vices and desires.

The desires of the flesh includes immorality, impurities, idol worship,hatred, jealousy, anger, violence e.t.c. These vices are not supposed to be in our lives as Christians, we are supposed to live a life led by the holy spirit and not led by the flesh, we know that the life of the spirit and the flesh are always in war with each other, but Christ came and died for us and crucified the flesh.

Col 3:3 – For you have died and your life is now hidden with Christ in God.
Christ was crucified and we died with him, so our flesh has also died and our life is hidden in Christ . We are compelled to live like Christ who in the form of man(flesh) overcame sin. He was tempted in everyway we are, and he overcame. He has come to help us in our weaknesses, but we have our own part to play. How can we do this?

Romans 12:1-2 says ‘I beg you, therefore, my brethren, by the mercy of God, to give yourselves as a living and holy sacrifice pleasing to God, that is your spiritual act of worship.
Vs 2 – Do not be conformed to the world where you live, but rather be transformed through the renewal of your mind. You must discern the will of God – what is pleasing and what is perfect.
St Paul encourages us to offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God, of which we know that God cannot accept a dented sacrifice. We can be acceptable to God when we are transformed by the renewal of our minds.
Renewal of our minds can be achieved through daily study of the word . When the desires of the flesh comes knocking at us, the word of God is there to help and assure us, the amount of God in us, is the amount of his word in us.
Our minds can be renewed through prayers. There are some short payers “mantra” we can mutter in our hearts to overcome these desires such as – ‘The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing i shall want’, ‘my Lord and my God, deliver me’ . Holy images such as images of the crucifix, saints, Blessed Virgin Mary, Blessed sacrament can be meditated upon to overcome the cravings of the flesh.

Flee from all occasions that could lead to the arousal of these vices. Self control and discipline is paramount. Overcoming the life of the flesh produces fruits of the Spirit. We are therefore encouraged to be led by the spirit and crucify the desires of the flesh.

SHALOM!