#shorts Part 15 — Mortify the Enemy
we, according to the Apostle, put to death, as it were, and crucify the old man of corruption, with his vices and sins; that they that are of Christ have crucified their flesh, with its vices and concupiscences, and die to ourselves; that we may put on the new man Jesus Christ, […] no virtue is more necessary for our eternal warfare. […]
[…] no one can be a good Christian, without waging perpetual war against his own sensual inclinations, and diligently taking up the cross of daily mortification.
Richard Challoner, Meditations, August 18 entry
Hello Readers, hope all’s well. Time for another #shorts post.
Today’s quick tidbit once again comes from Richard Challoner’s daily reader, Meditations. The full title being: Considerations Upon Christian Truths and Christian Duties: Digested Into Meditations for Every Day in the Year.
By the way, I want everyone to know Meditations is a book in the public domain- it’s free!! You can read it for free as a PDF (if you want a print copy like I prefer, you have to buy one). Check out the free PDF HERE.
If you download your own free copy, you can follow along with the entries I write about, or you can read an entry every day yourself.
Anyway, today’s selection from Meditations is about the ever-important topic of mortification. It’s about the importance of restraining and controlling our flesh, so our Spirit can thrive. Let’s take a look.
No Virtue more Necessary
Although I haven’t written about this in some time, in the past I’ve written about the flesh versus Spirit dynamic. This is a core topic of Christianity that gets … well … “fleshed out” (sorry) in great detail in the New Testament. I won’t go into the details because I’m going to let Challoner do the talking today.
But to sum it up, I would say this: We can indulge our flesh nature or engage our spiritual nature. If we indulge the appetite of our flesh for sensual pleasures (which…