1 Peter 4:11: “Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents to abstain from fleshly desires that war against you.”
“You can’t always get what you want” sounded forth from Mick Jagger and the English rock band The Rolling Stones in 1969. The song encapsulated a sentiment accepted by a generation involving accepting your condition and seeking what is needed. The culture of today trumpets a contrasting philosophy saying that you should be true to whatever your flesh directs you to be and do.
The gospel of Jesus Christ produces a distinct lifestyle that does not reflect the culture of its context but the characteristics of our Lord. Peter called us to abstain from our fleshly desires. Christians conduct and lifestyle involves refusing to yield to the flesh’s directions and the internal immoral dictates that war against the Spirit of God on the inside of us. We are told today to be true to yourself, your Adamic nature. Peter commanded just the opposite. When you allow your flesh to lead then you walk into a lifestyle of death, brokenness, and separation from God.
Your soul faces a war against the Spirit living within you. Turn from these fleshly desires and turn to Christ. He makes you whole through the gospel and through His Spirit. He completes you and changes you to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord. Find your life in Jesus Christ today. You can’t always get what you want and you do not even want to get what the flesh wants because the end thereof is death. Hate what is evil. Cling to what is good. When Christ, who is your life, appears then we will all appear with Him in glory (Col. 3:4).