How to Deny Your Flesh
Learning how to deny your flesh is being aware when it takes control. I stay attuned to words like, “Listen to what the Spirit of God says” because taming my flesh must include spiritual disciplines.
Apostle Paul refers to that relationship as Sonship in Romans 8:14. When Paul revealed the new relationship to the Romans, a spiritual change was on the way.
That newly acquired inheritance of being heirs of God signals a vital, unmistakable connection to the Holy Spirit. He’s the divine go-between to reach heaven’s hallways.
That means I must put an end to fleshly rantings and start denying the flesh.
It’s the end of believing in what I see and trusting in what I call a heavenly GPS (God Positioning System). With this GPS, I don’t push buttons or receive coordinates to find Jesus. As I allow the Spirit of God to move in my heart and spirit, the spiritual internal compass guides my steps.
How to Deny Your Flesh
You don’t lead God. He leads you. That’s sound Biblical advice according to the scripture below. But look around. Maybe my head is on backward, but I see Christians act like they know what God’s next steps should be.
Romans 8:14 – “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God.”
For God to lead, I must control my body and stop depending on it for spiritual sustenance. When I follow what my body wants, I dig my own grave, walk towards a self-dug pit, and fall in. Verse 13 below refers to spiritual death when it states, “you will die.” Every time I don’t control my body, I inch toward darkness (death), which is enmity against God.
Romans 8:13 – “For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.”
My prideful flesh beckons me to fill up on emptiness and not rely on God. That’s my cue to learn how to crucify the flesh daily.
I can lean on the Spirit of God, a divine person, and put my hand in His and not be afraid. As a child of God, I learn how to overcome sins of the flesh. If I stay in the battle, I start taking on His character. Maybe that sounds far-fetched, but that’s how God changes a believer when they live close to Him.
How to Deny the Flesh
The eternal life I received when accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior is different than the life offered daily by the Holy Spirit.
Romans 8:17 – Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”
This new inheritance by way of everlasting life offered from the cross catapults me into the family of God. The triune God and I are instantly blood kin. We are legally bound. There is no better news than this!
However, Paul warns me I could bow to feelings of fear.
Romans 8:15 – “The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.”
That verse clearly explains that the Spirit of God redeems me for every fleshly deed I depend on, other than Him. God adopts me as His child and He never holds anything back when I’m ready to move forward with Him. I feel His affection for me. It’s a reciprocal relationship.
Slaves are subject to taskmasters. The same is true when yielding to fleshly desires. I become a slave to whatever my body convinces me is the greatest need. When learning how to deny my flesh, I surrender to God’s love for me. I want to please Him as a child would a natural father. The Holy Spirit urges me to stay peaceful and happy so I’ll exhibit childlike trust toward Him. He is totally trustworthy.
Steps on How to Deny Your Flesh
- When I accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, my desires changed. Still, there’s always the push and pull between the flesh and spirit. The flesh goes one way, the Spirit of God another. If I could see the spiritual battlefield, I’d see little pieces of chocolate luring me into gluttony. I’d look and see myself at the battlefront neglecting God while attempting to write a New York Times bestseller. I’d linger in bed basking in laziness. All the while, the Spirit of God calls my name to rouse me from a fleshly stupor.
- I indulge in Bible studies or write them (see Psalm 23 Bible Study and the Book of Ephesians Bible Study) when God might tell me to develop fruit. The Holy Spirit works in His fruit of love, patience, kindness and other attributes. God knows that spiritually ripe fruit blesses others and exalts Him to point people toward His eternal kingdom.
- An on-fire Christian has an undeniable love for others. I perk along better when others are happy. The second commandment Jesus gave to love others is why (see Mark 12:29-31).
- Die to self, kill the flesh, and give the Spirit of God dominion. “If it feels good, do it” is a catchphrase from feel-good hits of the 60s and 70s. Accepting the maxim hook, line, and sinker means I live a life detached from the Spirit of God because my flesh leads me.
- The message in I Corinthians 3:16 is true. Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? Waiting for peace to flow over me and settle in my heart is God’s signal to me to act on what He puts in my head. That’s denying the flesh and doing what Jesus did.
Isaiah 11:2-3 – “The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord, and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes or decide by what he hears with his ears.”
The same spirit that led Jesus leads me.
Nothing I do for Him depends on what I see or hear physically. So my God Positioning System is on call 24/7 to help me listen to the Spirit of God alongside doses of faith. I let the spiritual ears of my heart and spirit lead me to where He resides. When I get that right, I go along merrily resting and trusting in His guidance and subdue my flesh. It’s a rogue sheep wanting to crawl under spiritual fences of protection and escape the spirit.