Be It Resolved? Part 2

Be It Resolved? Part 2
Monday, February 6, 2023 by Dr. James Walraven

Categories: Contemporary issues / Encouraging words / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / Spiritual warfare / The church / Thought for Today

How do we succeed in making necessary changes in our lives?

In the previous post, we looked at the fact that sometimes we are self-deceived, that we claim to want one thing, but in reality want something vastly different. Our sinful flesh dominates, and in ourselves, we generally don’t have the ability to carry things through. Thus, year after year, our New Year’s resolutions fail.

But, our own flesh isn’t our own adversary: the world and the devil also desire that we fail in our attempts to change, especially when those changes involve some aspect of increased obedience to Christ. In terms of the world, if we do change, that points to change being possible. That change may then convict others that they need to change, to live differently. Whatever that change is—whether something biblical or something in daily life—will likely cause at least some blowback from those who do not want to change. Sometimes we revert to where we were because we just don’t like battling the world’s attacks.

The Devil’s opposition is, in many ways, worse. Satan puts thoughts in our heads that we often assume are our own. Some of them include: “You’ll never succeed in changing, you’re too weak-willed;” or “You’ll never change, you love donuts too much to give them up” (or watching sports on TV, gaming, or whatever the item is). Other times he’ll whisper a temptation: “Wouldn’t a couple apple fritters taste good right now? You know you really want one!” After we’ve given in—all the more if what we’ve given in to is something Scripture directly calls sin—then the accusations start. “You call yourself a Christian, but you just… You worthless bit of pond scum.” And on and on it goes.

Instead of listening to, and then internalizing those thoughts, we need to remember who Satan, or the devil, is. Jesus is succinct. In John 8:44–45, Jesus describes him as a murderer from the beginning, that lying is his very nature, that there is no truth in him, and that he is a liar and the father of lies. If someone is the father of something, that means that “something” began with him. We end up listening to and internalizing, lies. Even if there is a bit of truth in the thought, the main thrust will remain a lie. A lie that contains a bit of truth is easier for us to believe and swallow. We won’t swallow the arsenic thought directly, but lace some sugar with it, and often we will.

Both Revelation 12:9–10 and Zechariah 3:1–2 describe Satan as the accuser. As already mentioned, accusations start the moment after we give in to temptation and commit a sin. We then internalize those accusations, believing those accusations to be who we are at the core of our being. For those of us in Christ, that is a lie: Christ is at the core of our being. Yet, for those of us who have been on the receiving end of serious and ongoing verbal abuse from a parent or loved-one, those lies can be very difficult to surmount.

So, how do we overcome? How can we succeed? How can we truly change? We will turn to those questions in the next post.

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