Serving God VS Serving the Flesh

According to logic and the Holy Scriptures, it is impossible to serve two masters. You “will be loyal to the one and despise the other.” (Matthew 6.24) We talk about multitasking and threading the needle, or walking a fine line, but when push comes to shove, we have only one loyalty.

I once led a young adult retreat during which we discussed the so-called balance between work and faith. There is no such balance. We are either loyal to our work, which normally means ignoring our family and faith, or we are not. Take a moment and reflect, and you will agree.

This is the never-ending challenge of the Christian journey. In today’s reading from Saint Paul’s Letter to the Romans, we hear just how damaging the wrong choice can be. If we choose anything other loyalty to God, we die.

Brethren, the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, indeed it cannot; and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Any one who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit which dwells in you. So then, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh-for if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live.

Romans 8.2-13

We say that God came to save us, but save us from what? From death? Sure, we now live eternally with God, but that eternity might not be what we expect. Living eternally with God has been guaranteed in Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. But there’s more.

If we are loyal to the ‘flesh’ what Saint Paul uses to describe the earthly life and all its trappings, then our eternal life with God will be a disappointment and even burden. Can you imagine what eternal disappointment will feel like. I’ll give you a hint. We call it hell and we would rather die.

If we are loyal to God, and live according to His will, even though we may struggle or suffer in our earthly life, our eternal life will be filled with joy, peace, and grace. We call that heaven. Eternal life with God can either be joy or burden, heaven or hell. The choice is ours, not God’s.

This is the ‘work’ that Christ has for us. This is why the Church continues to call us to a higher standard. This is why we fight against sin, not because we can be perfect, but because sin is a result of being loyal to the flesh. We fight sin to fight the flesh.

So, which is it? Do you want to be loyal to God or loyal to the flesh? Do you want to live eternally with God in joy, peace and grace, or experience God as torment, burden, and disappointment? Your loyalty will determine Whom or ‘what’ you serve.

If we serve God, then expect ‘the flesh’ to fight back. We WILL be tempted. We WILL struggle. Just remember, we aren’t struggling because of anything that God has done ‘to’ us. We struggle because our flesh wants us to serve the it rather than God. The choice is ours, not God’s.

If we serve ‘the flesh’ expect things to ‘go our way’ in the world, but we will never be satisfied. We will always want more money. We will always want more prestige. We will always want more of ‘the flesh’, and we will never feel comfort or peace. The choice is ours, not God’s.

If you want to choose God, but don’t know how or you are afraid of the struggle ahead, that’s natural. The lives of the saints are meant to comfort us that God is there with us. The life of the Church is meant to give us tools to endure the struggle and find joy, peace, and grace.

Make the choice! You won’t be disappointed by God ever! Choose ‘the flesh’ and expect to always be disappointed. The choice is YOURS to make, not God’s. He has told us what He wants for us. He has shown us He will help us. But He will not choose for us.