Paul names the wolves. Romans 8.1-4

One evening a Cherokee grandfather was teaching his young grandson about the internal battle that each person faces. “There are two wolves struggling inside each of us,” the old man said.
  “One wolf is vengefulness, anger, resentment, self-pity, fear . . . The other wolf is compassion, faithfulness, hope, truth, love . . .”

 The grandson sat, thinking, then asked: “Which wolf wins, Grandfather?”
  His grandfather replied, “The one you feed.”1

 Paul identifies those two wolves in Romans 8:  “For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.  (English Standard Version)

Here’s the thing—Paul laid himself bare in Romans chapter 7, explaining his struggle with sin, and his lack of self control (though he stops short of naming the monkey on his back).  And then, he speaks to us, while making a mental note to himself, writing, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” Phew … we can exhale!  Jesus paid our debt, and we will not be condemned when we are in relationship with him.  Having established that, Paul clearly lays out the choices of our free will, and I think they are well represented by the notion of the good wolf--Spirit, and the bad wolf--Flesh.  One wolf is always going to win, and conversely, the other one will lose.  We can choose to walk in the Spirit, or in the flesh.  (You will see the two words used frequently in Romans 8.)  By ‘flesh’, Paul means man’s sinful human nature, apart from Christ.  To live according to the flesh is to live a life dominated by the dictates and desires of sinful human nature instead of a life dominated by the dictates and the love of god.  The Greek word Paul uses for ‘flesh’ refers to the lower side of man’s nature, not his physical body.2  “The acts of the flesh are obvious,” Paul teaches—“sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;  idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”3   Were you surprised to see jealousy, selfish ambition, discord and envy on that list?  Hmmm . . .

And then Paul gives us a description of the character of the man or woman who seeks to live by the Spirit, (or, in the view of the Cherokee, feed the wolf named Spirit): “But the fruit of the Spirit, is love, joy, peace, forbearance, (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.  Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” These traits represent the harvest of the one who seeks to live in the Spirit.

Do you see how diametrically opposed the two are?  ‘How living in the Spirit points one toward God, while living in the flesh is oriented toward our base side at the very least.  It is self-focused, and meant to satisfy the sinful part of our human nature.

So how does one feed the flesh?  Give in to temptation, indulge your immoral whims, make excuses for yourself again and again.  Feed your mind with the things of the world, and value what the world values.

“But if I want to feed the Spirit, what then?  What should I do?”  I raised the question at Women of Passion, and let it hang in the air, looking into the faces of the women I love.  And then …well, I don’t think she raised her hand to answer . . . long blonde hair, a confident look in her eyes, and set to her jaw … she said, “Read your Bible!”  Just past 40 years of age, she had known many years trapped in the flesh, and finally in desperation, cried out to God, and he rescued her.   Since then, she has come to learn what it means to be in the Spirit, to live new life through the power of the Holy Spirit, and daily she remembers that it is a choice: bad wolf or good wolf--life in the flesh or life in the Spirit . . . all depends on which one you feed.

 

Christine

podcast:  

 

1       A story attributed to Cherokee wisdom from “Harmonies of Liberty” (January 21, 2009 National Prayer Service sermon), The Rev. Dr. Sharon E. Watkins

2      William Barclay.

3      Galatians 5.19-21

4      Galatians 5.22-24