There is a reality that every strong person eventually
discovers. No matter how disciplined you are,
no matter how gifted you are, no matter how mature
you are, no matter how long you have walked with
God, there are battles that cannot be seen. Battles
that happen behind the smile, behind the title,
behind the experience, behind the strength that
everyone else sees. Because sometimes the greatest
battles are not around us, they are within us.
And before we can understand that battle, we
must first understand the journey that brought
us here. In episode one of When the Strong Get
Tired, Barry Mwamba exposed one of the most overlooked
weapons used against strong people, physical
exhaustion. Because sometimes the enemy does
not need to destroy a person, he only needs to
wear them down. In episode two, he explored spiritual
weariness. the slow fading of passion, prayer,
and intimacy with God, the kind of fatigue that
cannot be cured by sleep because it affects the
soul. In episode 3, he examined the pressures,
responsibilities, and battles that quietly drain
even the strongest believers. In episode 4, he
revealed how great people often fall, not because
they lack talent, gifting, or opportunity, but
because character failed to sustain what success
had built. In episode 5, he uncovered one of
the deepest wounds strong people carry, disappointment.
The disappointment of betrayal, the disappointment
of rejection, the disappointment of watching
trusted people fail, and how disappointment,
when left unresolved, can become bitterness.
Now the journey continues, because after fatigue,
after failure, after disappointment, another
question remains. Why do believers still struggle?
Why do people who love God still battle temptation?
Why do strong believers still wrestle with weakness?
Why does the war continue even after salvation?
In episode 6, Barry Mwamba explores a reality
every believer eventually encounters, the struggle
between the flesh and the spirit, the war within.
Welcome to Pamoja Podcast. a ministry of Life
of Christ International, where we build stronger
lives, deeper faith, and Christ -centered homes,
one story, one message, and one revelation at
a time. And now, your host, Barry Mwamba. Today,
I want to talk about something that touches every
believer, not some believers, not weak believers,
not immature believers, every believer. I want
to talk about the struggle of the flesh. And
before we go any further, I want to say something
that I hope brings freedom to someone listening
today. Struggling does not automatically mean
you are failing. Struggling does not automatically
mean you are backslidden. Struggling does not
automatically mean God has abandoned you. In
fact, if we are honest, one of the biggest mistakes
we make when reading the Bible is that we admire
the victories of biblical characters while forgetting
their battles. We remember Moses standing before
Pharaoh, but we forget Moses struggled with anger.
We remember David standing before Goliath, but
we forget David struggled with desire. We remember
Peter walking on water, but we forget Peter struggled
with fear. We remember Samson's strength, but
we forget Samson struggled with lust. We remember
Jonah's prophetic ministry, But we forget Jonah
struggled with bitterness. We remember Gideon's
victory. But we forget Gideon struggled with
insecurity. We remember Saul's position. But
we forget Saul struggled with pride. Different
people. Different callings. Different weaknesses.
Yet every one of them was fighting something.
And if we're honest, so are we. Maybe your struggle
is not mine. Maybe mine is not yours. But everybody
is fighting something. And perhaps the most encouraging
example is Jesus himself in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Now let me be clear. Jesus never sinned. Jesus
never yielded to temptation. But he experienced
the full weight of human pressure. In Gethsemane,
we see Jesus wrestling with the suffering that
stood before him. The burden was so heavy that
the Bible says his sweat became like drops of
blood falling to the ground. He prayed. Then
He prayed again. Then He prayed a third time.
And every time, He brought His struggle before
the Father. What does that teach us? It teaches
us that struggle itself is not sin. Feeling pressure
is not sin. Feeling overwhelmed is not sin. The
victory of Jesus was not that He never felt the
weight. The victory was that He surrendered His
will to the Father. Not my will. but yours be
done. Sometimes maturity is not the absence of
struggle. Sometimes maturity is choosing obedience
in the middle of the struggle. And that brings
us to an important question. Why do believers
struggle at all? Why would someone who loves
God still battle thoughts, desires, fears, emotions,
temptations, and weaknesses? The answer begins
by understanding something many Christians never
fully grasp. Salvation happens in stages. Your
spirit has been redeemed. Your soul is being
transformed. But your body is still awaiting
redemption. Think about that. Your spirit belongs
to God. Your heart desires God. Yet you are still
living inside a body affected by the fall. You
are carrying a redeemed spirit inside an unredeemed
body. And that creates tension. A war. A conflict.
The flesh pulls one direction. The spirit pulls
another. That battle is not unique to you. It
is the reality of every believer. The question
is not whether the battle exists. The question
is whether we recognize it and learn how to fight
it. Because the flesh does not look the same
for everybody. For some people, the struggle
is appetite. Look at Esau. One meal. One craving.
One moment of weakness. And he traded something
eternal for something temporary. The issue was
never the stew. The issue was self -control.
Sometimes the flesh wants comfort now. Pleasure
now. Recognition now. Satisfaction now. The flesh
says, give it to me now. Faith says, wait on
God. For others, the struggle is lust and desire.
Samson is one of the clearest examples. The enemy
could not defeat Samson through strength. He
defeated him through desire. Every compromise
weakened his resistance. Every wrong relationship
lowered his defenses. Until eventually, the strongest
man became vulnerable. David faced a similar
battle. One evening, when kings were supposed
to be at war, David stayed behind. One glance
became a thought. One thought became a desire.
One desire became a decision. One decision became
a sin. And one sin became a chain reaction. The
battle did not begin on the rooftop. The battle
began long before the rooftop. Then there was
Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived. Yet wisdom
alone could not protect a heart that stopped
guarding itself. Knowledge without obedience
eventually becomes dangerous. For others, the
struggle is anger. Moses struggled with it. Peter
struggled with it. Jonah struggled with it. Moses
struck the rock. Peter cut off a servant's ear.
Jonah became angry because God showed mercy.
Think about that. A prophet upset because God
forgave people. The lesson is simple. Strength
without self -control becomes dangerous. One
emotional decision can damage what took years
to build. For others, the struggle is fear. Gideon
was hiding when God called him a mighty warrior.
Peter denied Jesus because of fear. The Israelites
refused to enter the promised land because they
were intimidated by giants. Fear focuses on circumstances.
Faith focuses on God's promises. Fear says, what
if I fail? Faith says, what did God say? And
many destinies have been delayed because fear
became louder than faith. Then there is pride,
perhaps one of the most dangerous struggles of
all, because pride hides. Saul did not begin
proud. He began humble. He was hiding among the
baggage when God called him. But success changed
him. Recognition changed him. Power changed him.
Eventually, He became more concerned with protecting
his image than obeying God. Pride convinces people
they no longer need correction, no longer need
accountability, no longer need counsel. And that
is when danger begins. Then there is bitterness.
Some struggles come from wounds. Joseph had every
reason to become bitter. David had every reason
to become bitter toward Saul. Yet both chose
forgiveness. Bitterness feels justified. That
is what makes it dangerous. It convinces us that
our prison is reasonable. but bitterness slowly
poisons the person carrying it. And then there
was Paul, the great apostle, the missionary,
the church planter, the man who carried the gospel
across nations. Yet even Paul experienced abandonment.
People left him. Some walked away from the mission.
Some walked away from him. One of the most painful
examples was Demas. Imagine giving your life
for the gospel and watching trusted companions
leave. Sometimes the battle is not lust. Sometimes
it is discouragement. Sometimes it is loneliness.
Sometimes it is rejection. Sometimes it is the
temptation to quit. And perhaps one of the biggest
struggles in our generation is comfort. The flesh
loves convenience. The flesh avoids sacrifice.
The flesh loves shortcuts. Prayer requires discipline.
Fasting requires discipline. Serving requires
discipline. Studying God's Word requires discipline.
The flesh asks, what is easiest? The spirit asks,
what pleases God? Many believers are not defeated
by obvious sin. They are defeated by comfort.
But there is another form of flesh that is even
more dangerous, because it does not look sinful.
It looks spiritual. Sometimes the flesh appears
as religion. Sometimes it appears as self -reliance.
Sometimes it appears as trying to do God's work
without depending on God. Paul confronted this
issue in Galatia. He asked, Having begun in the
Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the
flesh? What a question. They started in the Spirit.
They experienced God's power. They experience
God's grace, but somewhere along the way they
began trusting themselves more than God. And
if we're honest, many believers do the same thing.
We begin dependent on God. We pray about everything.
We seek His guidance. We trust Him completely.
Then come a few victories, a few promotions,
a few accomplishments, a few years of experience,
and slowly we begin relying on ourselves. The
flesh does not always pull us into obvious sin.
Sometimes it simply pulls us away from dependence
on God. Then there was Corinth, gifted people,
talented people, spirit -filled people. Yet Paul
called them fleshly. Why? Because gifts are not
the same as maturity. A person can be gifted
and still be jealous, gifted and still be proud,
gifted and still be divided, gifted and still
be immature. Activity is not transformation.
Being busy for God is not the same thing as becoming
like Christ. And then Jesus addressed the churches
in Revelation. Many of them had not abandoned
church. They had not abandoned activity. They
had not abandoned religion. But they had drifted.
Ephesus lost its first love. Pergamum tolerated
compromise. Sardis looked alive but was spiritually
dead. Laodicea became lukewarm. Notice the pattern.
Most did not collapse overnight. They drifted.
One compromise at a time. One distraction at
a time. One neglected prayer at a time. One act
of complacency at a time. The flesh does not
always attack through rebellion. Sometimes it
attacks through drift. And perhaps that is the
warning for all of us. Nobody wakes up one morning
planning to fall. Most great falls begin with
small compromises. Most spiritual failures begin
with a slow drift. And this brings us to today's
turning point. Maybe your struggle has convinced
you that you are disqualified. Maybe your weakness
has convinced you that God is finished with you.
Maybe your battle has convinced you that everyone
else is stronger than you. But when I look at
scripture, I see something different. I see Moses
struggling, David struggling, Peter struggling,
Gideon struggling, Samson struggling, Jonah struggling,
Paul struggling. I even see Jesus wrestling in
Gethsemane. And yet God's purpose prevailed.
Their struggle was not their identity. Their
weakness was not their destiny. And yours is
not either. The enemy wants you to identify with
your struggle. God wants you to identify with
his grace. The enemy calls you by your weakness.
God calls you by your purpose. The enemy called
Gideon a coward. God called him a mighty warrior.
The enemy called Simon unstable. Jesus called
him Peter, the Rock. The enemy called David a
shepherd boy. God called him King. And perhaps
while you are focused on your struggle, God is
focused on who you are becoming. Because the
story is not over. The battle is not over. And
God's work in your life is certainly not over.
One day the struggle will end. One day the flesh
will no longer fight the spirit. One day corruption
will put on incorruption. One day we will receive
glorified bodies. and the war within will finally
be over. But until that day, stay in the fight,
stay in prayer, stay in the word, stay in God's
presence, because the same God who saved your
spirit is still working on the rest of your story,
and He always finishes what He starts. Before
we close, let me introduce where we're going
next, because today's conversation raises another
question. If strong people struggle, why do some
recover while others fall? Why do some recognize
temptation and walk away while others walk directly
into it? I believe the answer often has less
to do with the size of the temptation and more
to do with the condition of their defenses. David
did not fall when he was facing Goliath. He fell
when he stayed home. Samson did not fall in battle.
He fell in a relationship he should have avoided.
Peter did not deny Jesus while standing beside
Jesus. He denied him after exhaustion, fear,
confusion, and isolation affected his judgment.
The enemy rarely attacks your strength. He waits
for your resistance to weaken. And that is exactly
what we will explore in episode seven. When your
defenses are down. The things that weaken resistance.
The warning signs that defenses are failing.
The conditions that make strong people vulnerable.
And how to recognize danger before a fall ever
happens. Because most great falls do not begin
with a major sin. They begin with lowered defenses.
And if we can learn how to protect our defenses,
we can learn how to remain standing. Let's pray.
Father, in the name of Jesus, give strength to
every person listening today. Strengthen those
who are tired. Encourage those who are discouraged.
Restore those who have drifted. Heal those who
are wounded. Remind us that our struggle is not
our identity, our weakness is not our destiny,
and our failures do not cancel your purpose.
Teach us to walk in the Spirit. Teach us to remain
dependent on you and finish the work you started
in us. In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for joining
me today on Promoja Podcast. I'm your host, Barry
Mwamba. Until next time, stay strong, stay vigilant,
stay close to God. And remember, this may be
your turning point.