Responding To Life

How can one identify a mature Christian? What changes as one begins to grow in their walk with God? What are the characteristics of a carnal Christian? Many Christians point at the sister that dressed in a certain way as the carnal one when they themselves are living their life ignorantly in a very carnal way. When one is unaware of his/her carnality as presented by the bible, it is quite difficult to make a change.

The bible in Romans 8:6 presented carnality as something that has to do with the mind. It is our mental response to everyday life. Our level of carnality can be seen in our everyday responses to life. The word 'carnal' is translated from the Greek word 'sarkikos', which literally means 'fleshly.' The carnal Christian responds to life from the place of the senses while the spiritual christian responds to life from the spiritual. He reacts to life beyond what he can see, feel, touch or smell.

When Samuel went to anoint a king in the house of Jesse. His first response was very scientific and consequently very carnal. He looked at the elderly one and saw how gigantic he looked and therefore raised his hand to anoint him but God stopped him saying, 'Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.' (1 Samuel 16:7). In carnality, we make decisions purely from what is visible but as we grow in the Lord we begin to acknowledge how important it is for us to see things beyond the visible.

When you live your life carnality, you will get the result that comes with being carnal, 'For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.'. What drives your decision in life? Why do you make your choices? What influences your everyday responses to life? What influences your choice?

In Genesis 19, the bible presented the challenges Lot faced living in Sodom. He was almost destroyed alongside the people of Sodom but God saved him. Despite God's rescue, he lost his wife in the process. But how did all that start? It started with Lot's carnal approach to life decisions. The bible says this about him, 'Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord like the land of Egypt. So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. ...Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom.' (Genesis 13:10-12). Lot's problems started with his choice of where to live. He made a choice based on what the eyes could see and not on God's guidance.

Learn to respond to life from the place of the Spirit. Learn to pulse and evaluate the spiritual implication of your choices. When one is under pressure to act in a certain way, a carnal Christian will only think about the present and the fleshly desires, but a mature Christian will consider more. 'The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot."

'So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.' Let your everyday choices be from the place of his guidance. From the smallest decision to critical ones, form the habit of always responding to life from the place of the Spirit. For 'to be spiritually minded is life and peace' (Romans 8:6).