Let’s Not Wage War Against Our Own Souls

Life is hard enough — but are we making it even more difficult because we’re not only fighting external forces, we’re also waging war against our own soul?

Surely not.

Don’t let yourself be tricked into opening the door of your soul to the forces that will destroy you.

The Bible says, “Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul” (1 Peter‬ ‭2:11‬).

The first time this verse ever got my attention, I was out running a trail and listening to the audio of the book of First Peter.

It literally stopped me in my tracks.

It made so much sense in my own life.

About half my problems were not caused by external forces of evil, but rather the evil I was allowing into my own soul.

Was I crazy?

No — I was foolish. Although the more obvious “passions of the flesh” — such as sex or drug addiction or the disproportionate pursuit of money and success — were easily identifiable as enemies of my soul, I never considered there were more subtle enemies I’d allowed into my life.

Related: ‘What Does God think Is Beautiful?’

What enemies?

Those would be worry, fear, anxiety, doubt, a lack of forgiveness, dissatisfaction, bitterness, etc. — and they were like termites, gnawing deep holes and slowly tearing away at the very foundation of my soul.

When these negative emotions penetrate my soul’s fortress and are not immediately expelled, they become “passions of the flesh,” waging war in my soul.

What a revelation.

In God’s presence, peace reigns supreme in my soul.

It was time to begin searching my soul and asking God to help me do some serious soul reconstruction.

Some of the damage from these “termites” is so deep that my soul bears permanent scars.

I don’t want any more of those. The closer I stay to God, the more the light of His presence reveals the subtle “passions of the flesh” — and the more quickly I give them the boot.

In God’s presence, peace reigns supreme in my soul.