[Songs in the Night - June 21]
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not. Romans 7:18
THIS discrepancy between the new will, the new
mind, and the mind of the flesh and the flesh itself, both
reckoned as dead but really quite alive, requiring continual
vigilance to restrain them and keep them in line
with the new creature's intentions, means quite a fight,
and success in this fight means a victory, and victory
in this fight is what the Lord proposes to reward with
the special honors and blessings proffered during this
Gospel age....A part of this filthiness of the mind is
selfishness, which frequently is so mean as to be
ashamed of itself, to seek to hide itself under various
pretexts of generosity, etc., and by outward ostentation,
gifts, etc.
Other features of the filthiness of the
mind are jealousy, covetousness, ambition.
These
various forms of selfishness are all to be recognized,
as the apostle declares, as of evil origin, works of the
flesh and of the devil.
Lasciviousness or sensuality is
a further part of this filthiness—another form of selfishness
or love of self-indulgence.
With all of these
conditions of the mind, the new creature should be in
opposition to the extent of despising them, fighting
against them, destroying them. Z'07-134 R3986:2 (Hymn 103)