I was talking with a friend who is in seminary currently about the carnal nature of man. A carnal man is one who trusts in his own ability to live a Christian life. These types of individuals have many highs and lows in their spiritual journey. When any of us fall into the temptation to live out of our carnal nature we begin displaying certain characteristics: loss of love for God and for others, poor prayer life, no desire for Bible study, legalistic attitude, impure thoughts and actions, guilt, worry, frustration, aimlessness, a critical spirit and others. All of those sound pretty yucky.
What leads to this position in life? A carnal Christian did at one point have an abundant, fruitful life, but something made them cynical and unsure of the power of God. These individuals have forgotten the power, love and forgiveness of God. When they are in the mode of being able to live a spirit-filled life without the empowering of Christ they cannot understand themselves. Because they cannot understand themselves they often do things that they do not wish to do, while being unable to do the things they would really like to do. They want to do right but fail.
I am guilty. My faith in my own ability to do right is often greater than my faith in anything else. This always leads to frustration. It also leads to guilt, shame, broken relationships and general heartache. I must return to a place of dependency on the power of Christ to sustain me.
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