{"id":871,"date":"2010-03-24T19:14:54","date_gmt":"2010-03-25T02:14:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/blog\/?p=871"},"modified":"2020-08-10T11:15:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-10T18:15:23","slug":"the-carnal-life-syndrome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/blog\/inner-peace\/the-carnal-life-syndrome\/","title":{"rendered":"The Carnal Life Syndrome"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are there times in your life when you say, \u201cI\u2019ve invited Christ into my life, and yet I\u2019ve gotten glimpses of myself not really living the Christian life, and I\u2019m struggling with this realization\u201d?
\n
\nMaybe you are you still trying to deal with your feelings through \u201cself expression\u201d as Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 3:3 (KJV), \u201cFor whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Or maybe you\u2019re trying \u201cself restraint\u201d – attempting on your own to \u201cLet all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamor, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice, and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ\u2019s sake hath forgiven you\u201d<\/em>\u00a0(Ephesians 4:31-32 KJV).<\/p>\n

But all you\u2019re accomplishing is putting a smile on your face to look like you\u2019re loving the person who has upset you, but you\u2019re still experiencing the same nasty reaction on the inside.<\/p>\n

This is carnality\u2013strife and division\u2013life \u201cin the flesh.\u201d This negative spirit is captivating you. It works against the Spirit of God, which is love, and joy, and peace, and gentleness, and kindness, and long suffering, and temperance.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to know where your own adequacy is: \u00a0what it is that you can do without God\u2019s help, and what you can\u2019t do without God\u2019s help.<\/p>\n

2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (KJV) tells us, \u201cSuch trust have we through Christ to God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The place to start is with God. 1 John 1:9 tells us, \u201cIf we confess ours sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

There is a concept called Spiritual Breathing that can help us to live this verse out daily. Spiritual Breathing simply means exhaling and inhaling like you breathe air: Exhaling \u2013 confessing your sin, inhaling \u2013 breathing in God\u2019s Spirit, expecting the forgiveness of God. He promises us that if you\u2019ll confess your sins, He will forgive you your sins, and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. We can experience God\u2019s power and presence in our lives if we start with Him!<\/p>\n

Take a step . . .<\/strong>
\nTake some time to identify the sin in your life. It may be pride, or stubbornness, or rebellion, or hostility, or anger, or a lack of love, or insincerity. Practice the concept of Spiritual Breathing:\u00a0 exhale and confess your sin to God, inhale the forgiveness of God. Ask Him to fill you and empower you with His Spirit so your behavior will become pleasing to Him.<\/p>\n

This is a summary from Dr. Brandt\u2019s message,\u00a0Growing Up\u20132<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Want more? Click here\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n

>>\u00a0Find life-changing insights arranged topically by need<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

>>\u00a0Listen to dynamic audio messages by Dr. Brandt<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

>>\u00a0Experience freedom and healing from sin problems<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are there times in your life when you say, \u201cI\u2019ve invited Christ into my life, and yet I\u2019ve gotten glimpses of myself not really living the Christian life, and I\u2019m struggling with this realization\u201d?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":""},"categories":[27,13,5,171],"tags":[159,161,162,160],"author_meta":{"display_name":"ddunn","author_link":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/author\/ddunn\/"},"featured_img":null,"coauthors":[],"tax_additional":{"categories":{"linked":["Dealing with Sin<\/a>","Getting Right with God<\/a>","Inner Peace<\/a>","Life Transformation<\/a>"],"unlinked":["Dealing with Sin<\/span>","Getting Right with God<\/span>","Inner Peace<\/span>","Life Transformation<\/span>"]},"tags":{"linked":["carnality<\/a>","self-expression<\/a>","self-restraint<\/a>","spiritual breathing<\/a>"],"unlinked":["carnality<\/span>","self-expression<\/span>","self-restraint<\/span>","spiritual breathing<\/span>"]}},"comment_count":"0","relative_dates":{"created":"Posted 12 years ago","modified":"Updated 1 year ago"},"absolute_dates":{"created":"Posted on March 24, 2010","modified":"Updated on August 10, 2020"},"absolute_dates_time":{"created":"Posted on March 24, 2010 7:14 pm","modified":"Updated on August 10, 2020 11:15 am"},"featured_img_caption":"","featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"ddunn","author_link":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/author\/ddunn\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=871"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8020,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/871\/revisions\/8020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblicalcounselinginsights.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}