Fighting the flesh isn’t always loud or obvious. Sometimes it looks like battling revenge, bitterness, pride, jealousy, fear, control, lust, anger, insecurity, selfish ambition, people pleasing, sexual sin, or the urge to return to the very things and relationships that hurt us. The flesh pulls us toward what wounds us and others, but the Spirit leads us toward freedom, forgiveness, peace, and life.We all have battles. The question is: which voice are we feeding?“Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” — Galatians 5:16

Paul explained this struggle so honestly in Romans 7:15–20: “For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Another translation says it this way: “I’m a mystery to myself, for I want to do what is right, but end up doing what my moral instincts condemn.” — Romans 7:15 (The Passion Translation)I think so many of us can relate to that battle.

For years, I carried deep shame over patterns and coping mechanisms I picked up as a child to deal with trauma and growing up in unhealthy environments. I felt trapped in cycles I couldn't break on my own. Afterwards, I would feel dirty, ashamed, condemned, and distant from God.

The enemy wants us trapped in shame because shame keeps us hiding. Shame tells us we are filthy, rejected, hopeless, and beyond healing. But conviction is different. Conviction draws us back toward the heart of God. The truth is: our struggle is not our identity. In Christ, we are made new. In 2023, after praying with someone who understood my struggle personally, something finally broke. God began healing places inside of me that had been wounded for years. I realized freedom did not come from hating myself more. Freedom came through honesty, healing, prayer, surrender, and allowing God’s love into the places I kept hiding.There is hope for people who feel trapped. There is healing for wounded people. There is grace for those battling shame. You are not too far gone. God still restores people every single day.

Scripture References: Galatians 5:16, Romans 7:15–20 (NIV & TPT)