Fighting Yourself

In the movie, 'Way of a Peaceful Warrior' there is a dramatic scene where the young warrior must learn to 'let go of himself'. The scene unfolds on the top of a clock tower on his college campus. He first thinks that he has to talk someone out of jumping and then realizes that the person is actually himself.

Ok, not really him, but a metaphor for himself. The self that he has known all his life. Dan Milman is a young, selfish, hot tempered, self centered, shallow young man. He learns that he has to let go of this former self.

A fight ensues and the former self tells Dan that he can't exorcise him because he doesn't know who is without the former self. Its true. We don't know who we are, if we really try to get rid of all the old junk that we have carried around for so long. But if your willing to find out, you can learn a whole new wonderful way of living.

I think that my setback is my former self fighting back. John Eldredge would say that the flesh is always there trying to sabotage things. And there is a HUGE distinction here. Most churches say that we are all evil, we are all born of sin, because of Adam. But that's not really true. See, we have sin in us; but our heart, our core, is not what God tells us to get rid of.

Paul says (Romans 7:20) "I am not really the one doing it, the sin within me is doing it". It is the sin within me that is causing this setback. My former self is fighting for control and that's what I need to get rid of. My heart though is good. The Bible tells us to guard our heart. Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." This would not be the case if our heart was evil or full of sin.

Here is a clip from the movie 'Way of a Peaceful Warrior' (the part I mentioned above is 2 minutes and 28 seconds into it. It reminds me of Matthew 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."