"the spirit is willing indeed, but the flesh is week"- Mt 26:41, is one of the few verses in the Bible that I found directly relating to the things that are happening in my life. I have read so many passages from the Bible and explained so many other to people who have sought my explanation and even to people who never bothered to listen and I showed off, but most of them were ideas that I have not personally realized to be true (that's why I called the IDEAS, not facts). But, this verse, I will call a fact because I have realized how true it is in the light of my past experiences and the present happenings.
If anyone really leads a CHRISTIAN LIFE, they sure are few of the saints left in the whole universe, because for a Christian it takes pains to live that life. It's like training a 3 year old to hold his pee. He sure learns it, but only after years of learning. Just magnify the time by 10 times to roughly estimate the time it would take to live the basic Christian life. I may be disparaging the time but that itself is long. I have realized how tough it is to live that chaste life. We can never reason out our wrong actions, because we already know the Truth and truth is absolute. Whatever we do, we know deep within whether it is right or not, but we choose to ignore that conscience for our fleshly benefits. That's how tough it is to train and control our flesh. I have undergone so many of such battles between the good and the bad conscience when it comes to fantasies. Perhaps, the easiest way to sin is by fantasizing. Just one second and can commit adultery with some high heeled celebrity half way across the planet. Surprisingly, when we have been through all these 'formation', 'growth' and 'discipleship' retreats, it becomes next to impossible to stop ourselves from such wild imaginations. Gets even worse when you are in a relationship. I am no saint, I have been in and out of relationships, did dirty stuff, and never gave my parents the slightest hint that I was into all of them, bad habits. I guess everyone goes through these things, if they deny they are liars. The first time that we realize that what we do is bad and then later attain the first 'enlightenment', in some retreat or a prayer meeting, we feel like saints already. Think about that confession where we confess literally everything. Be it the cheapest and most perverse thing we would have ever done or the counseling session where we talk freely and boldly about the most shameful things we did and the wildest doubts we had, all this as if we were past all those emotions. We attain Nirvana.
After the retreat, soul searching and reflection, the first few months we seem to be doing great... another saint has risen from the ashes of the old self. Only later, after we retire to our daily life and regular friends after the first few months of the hangover, begins our agony. We see another video with scantily clad women doing their 'thang'. The hip-hop videos and the most happening music and its video start to take over our thoughts, instead of the wooden cross. Suddenly after a few months, your best friend (who most of the times, unfortunately happens to be a girl) starts disturbing your walk of purity.
The most common problem that anyone would face would be with relationships, we guys can't stop ourselves from sharing our thoughts with girls. It is so common in guys, to fall so fast for girls who are good friends. My dad always used to tell me "the more you talk to a girl, the more you are exposing your weaknesses" and that apparently, is true. We guys try to be so nice and sweet with girls and talk about everything, our desires, our past, and then suddenly in a few days we find a liking towards the girl and then starts the comedy.
For Christians, somehow this love turns out to be a prophecy or a revelation. No offense.
