He told me to tell you that
KEN ANSELL
Imeet with two different small groups during the week and these people are committed to gathering and hearing the Word of God. This last week we looked at Romans 12:9, “Let your love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.” That seems pretty clear but “hearing and doing (James 1:22)” are two different things. There’s a story about a troubled person who went to see the wise man in their village. They shared with the wise man that there were two dogs living inside of them. One of the dogs was positive, loving, kind and gentle. The other dog was angry, mean spirited and negative. This person in turmoil asked the wise man, “Which dog is going to win the battle within me?” The wise man replied, “The one you feed the most.” The Apostle Paul mentions this battle that rages in every Christian starting in Romans 7:15, “For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want but do the very thing that I hate. So now it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is in my flesh. For I have a desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.” Then Paul says, “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” Paul addresses the problem and then shares the solution. Easy-peasy (not really). Starting in Galatians 5:16 we are told about these two dogs, the flesh and the Spirit. It says, “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is the opposite of what the Spirit wants.” Then we read, “These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”
Our flesh wants to be sexually immoral, argumentative, selfish and envious among other things (Galatians 5:19). The Holy Spirit in us wants to produce things I know we all value and desire - things like, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22). What’s the answer? What dog are you feeding? That’s the dog that is going to win the daily battle.
If you are feeding the right dog, your love for both God and others will be sincere. It will be a selfless love that has tangible expressions attached to it. This real love will center on the needs of others and the desires of the Lord. It’s easy to tell people you love them but much harder to make sacrifices so that you show them you love them.
If you are feeding the right dog you will hate evil. Hating evil is the other side of love. If it’s sketchy you won’t want to be involved with it. If God isn’t in it, then leave it alone. Proverbs tells us, “Fear of the Lord is to hate evil.”
Finally, if you are feeding the right dog you will hang onto what is good. You will as 1st Thessalonians 5:21 says, “Examine things, test the things in our lives and only hold onto what is good.” I think we should be in a constant “cleaning house” mode.
We should always be allowing the Holy Spirit in us to uncover the not so good stuff in ourselves, the things that impede us from following Jesus in the greatest possible way. Then as those things are realized we need to take that stuff out to the curb so it can be hauled off wherever the trash man takes things that are considered garbage.
He told me to tell you that.
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