My Greatest Enemy

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

          For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. II Peter 1:3-8

Fasting brings me face to face with my greatest enemy.  It forces me to deal with the root cause of most of my problems. I suspect that all of us, if we could be honest with ourselves, have the same problem. Self will.

I know what the Lord commands us to do as Christians; To love the Lord with all our heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). But sometimes, when I know I need to do something, the first thought in my mind is “I will do that when I finish what I want to do”.  There it is again, Self Will.  It isn’t always something I need to do for someone else; it can be something in my life that is not pleasing to God that I need to deal with. 

We need to realize we are in a spiritual battle.  Read II Peter 1:3-8 again and see that God has given us all the power to be successful in everything we are called to do.  We need to use what He has already given to us.

Thank You, Father, that your divine power has already given me everything I need for a godly life! Help me to grow in knowledge and see past my self will to do Your will. Help me to reflect on the things You desire to change in me, and help me to change.