The struggle is real

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. GALATIANS 5:16-17 NLT

The confusion begins with me

So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate…I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. ROMANS 7:14-15, 21-23 NLT
What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? JAMES 4:1 ESV

The war within…

Is lost through sin and self-reliance

When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. GALATIANS 5:19-21 NLT
How foolish can you be? After starting your new lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort? Have you experienced so much for nothing? Surely it was not in vain, was it? GALATIANS 3:3-4 NLT

Is won through active surrender and trust

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves…Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. GALATIANS 5:16, 25 NLT
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. GALATIANS 2:20 NLT
I can’t, but Christ in me can.

Is about progress not perfection

I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. Let all who are spiritually mature agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you. But we must hold on to the progress we have already made. PHILIPPIANS 3:12-16 NLT
Progress is measured by the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (see Galatians 5:22-23).

Jesus wins the war

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” JOHN 16:33 NLT
When you came to Christ, you were “circumcised,” but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature. For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead. You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross. In this way, he disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross. COLOSSIANS 2:11-15 NLT
Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. 1 TIMOTHY 6:12 NLT

Community Group Discussion Guide

1. When you hear a phrase like “the war within,” what struggles from your own life come to mind?
2. Read Galatians 5:16-17. What are some of the things that your sinful nature has craved in the past?
3. What are some of the things that the Holy Spirit in you desires? What influences whether or not those desires win in your day-to-day decisions?
4. Read Romans 7:18-25. What is one secret thing that you are struggling with right now and how can we help?
5. Read Philipians 3:12-16. What progress have you made on your journey to become more like Jesus since the day you first believed?
6. Read John 16:33. What encouragement do you take from this passage as you struggle with your journey to be more like Jesus?

Personal Reflection Guide

Find a place where you can be alone with God. Allow your body, mind and heart to settle as you begin a conversation with God about your willingness to surrender your own ways and grow in your trust for him. Consider asking him some questions like, “Lord, in what aspects of my life am I still relying on myself and not you? How does my self-reliance get in the way of my relationship with you and others? What am I still holding onto and what is my motive for keeping a grasp on it? What would it look like for me to take some next steps in surrendering that to you?”
Allow these questions to guide your time with God. Resist any urge to simply answer the questions simply for the sake of an answer. Instead, be open to God guiding your conversation with him, leading you through your time together. When you’re ready, bring your conversation with God to a close by thanking him for your time together. Next, find someone you trust and share with them about what came out of your prayer time with God.