'An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil. He is anger, envy, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.
The other is good. He is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. This same fight is going on inside you and inside every other person too."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"
The old Cherokee replied simply, "The one you feed.'
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Hey, Jonathan -- I got the link to your blog off of Nick Loflin's blog. I've enjoyed checking out the different posts, and have loved the Christmas lights this season! This post was very interesting to me in light of things I have been learning through a class on the Exchanged Life (I am assuming that you posted it as an analogy for the Christian life, that we have to starve the bad and feed the good in us). I would say that the theme of this class is understanding and appropriating Galatians 2:20, that we have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer we who live but Christ lives in us, and also 2 Corinthians 5:17, that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation, the old is gone, the new has come. And so, in light of that, I don't think that we as Christians have two natures duking it out and that it is up to us to starve the bad and feed the good. Because we have been reborn, God has given us a new nature, Christ's, and that is the only one we have now; when we sin or feel as though we have not been made new, that is a response of the flesh, but is not an act of our true identity in our spirit. Bill Goans actually preached a bit on this last Sunday at the end of his sermon about the tower of Babel. He talked about how there are times when he really messes up and sins, but God is leading him to remember that he is no longer identified by his sin, but rather he is a holy child of God, and that leads him to seek to live as who he now is in Christ. What do you think?
Hey Marshall - Thank you for stopping by and commenting. Glad you loved seeing the Christmas lights. I love Christmas lights, no matter where, how many, or what color. Each light bulb, whether C-9, mini, or micro, speaks the truth that "the Life-Light blazed out of the darkness, and the darkness couldn’t put it out." John 1:5 (The Message)
About the goals for 2006 and the old Cherokee teaching his grandson about life, thanks for pointing out that believers need to hear (and believe) that they have but one nature: Christ in us, the hope of glory, the new-creation Paul reminds us we are.
Some, it would seem, behave as if it is up to them to fight (or look like they're fighting) "that war" Paul talked about, between good and evil. The Cherokee's admonition to his grandson could be seen along the lines of 'we are people who wrestle with sin in a very real way, even though we're the redeemed.'
Maybe this is what Paul meant when he said, “For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing. So while the outcome of each believer's sin has been concluded successfully, in Christ, each believer's struggle with sin is still very much alive. Those who behave as if it is up to them ignore another foundational truth, that of 'confessing our sins' to one another (and Our Father) and receiving the assurance of His forgiveness.
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