a constant battle

You're out to lunch with your coworker, it's Friday afternoon and everyone is excited and in a good mood because it's almost the weekend. You've all worked extra hard this week and it feels extra good. One of your coworkers, isn't like the rest. He or she decided not to go eat lunch and keep working. 

All is good at lunch, nobody really notices it until someone brings it up. As soon as the name is brought up it's like the flood gates open and everyone starts talking about the coworker who decided not to hang out. I mean everyone is chiming in, there are people saying bad things, and others bringing up some good things. You notice that when some of your coworkers start saying bad things or making fun of the person, it seems like everyone is laughing more than when the good things are said. 

You're sitting there and the only person left to chime in is you..What are you going to say? Are you going to make fun of the coworker just to fit in? Are you going to say nice things because you feel like that's the right thing to do? Or are you going to tell the group you shouldn't be talking about your coworker who isn't there?

Life is a battle!!

We constantly wrestle with these battles daily. 

"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 5:17)

Every day we are faced with a battle between our sinful nature and what the Spirit wants. You faced it yesterday, you will face it today, and most likely tomorrow you will as well. It's never ending. It's a constant battle. Just like the moment where it's your turn to chip in at lunch with your coworkers.

What are you going to do? I believe the most important first step is your awareness. You might just be the life of the party and you can't flip a switch all of a sudden. Or it might just be your second nature to fit in and be a part of the group! When you're in those moments, where you can tell you're a couple words away from fitting in or you have a knot in your stomach telling you to keep your mouth shut, that's the first victory!

Recognize the constant battle we all face, and from there we conquer it.