The Conflict of Two Natures
We all hear inner voices. Some people may call it self-talk. How we treat these inner voices plays a big role in how our lives turn out. You can break them into the negative and positive voices or good and evil voices or however makes sense for you to separate them. There is an affirming and nurturing voice versus an accusing, demeaning, pessimistic voice.
These two inner voices come from two warring inner natures. One nature urges you to do good and you try hard but the other nature sabotages your every attempt at doing good and gets you to do the very thing you are trying to avoid.
Here is how an astute writer lamented over these two natures controlling his life.
The natural law is good and the trouble is not there but with me. I act as if I were sold into slavery with Sin as my owner.
I don’t understand myself at all, for I really want to do what is right, but I can’t. I do what I don’t want to—what I hate. I know perfectly well that what I am doing is wrong, and my bad conscience proves that I agree with these natural laws I am breaking. But I can’t help myself because I’m no longer doing it. It is sin inside me that is stronger than I am that makes me do these evil things.
I know I am rotten through and through so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn I can’t make myself do right. I want to but I can’t. When I want to do good, I don’t; and when I try not to do wrong, I do it anyway. Now if I am habitually doing what I don’t want to, it is plain where the trouble is: sin still has me in its evil grasp.
It seems to be a fact of life that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love to do good so far as my new nature is concerned; but there is something else deep within me, in my lower nature, that is at war with my mind and wins the fight and makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. In my mind, I want to be a willing servant of everything that is good and true, but instead, I find myself still enslaved to sin.
So you see how it is: my new life tells me to do right, but the old nature that is still inside me loves to sin. Oh, what a terrible predicament I’m in! Who will free me from my slavery to this deadly lower nature?
Maybe this will help you understand why this writer is lamenting and why every single human being on the planet laments as well in their own way.
Think of any bad habit that you have. You may be trying to lose a few pounds, to exercise regularly to live a better life. It could be to live your vision and make an impact in life. You know exactly what you ought to do. You don’t need anyone to tell you what is right you know it. You want to eat healthy so that you can lose weight. But what happens after only a few days? You fall off the bandwagon. Why? If you observe yourself carefully and listen to your self-talk, you will notice that you can relate to above writer. Sin is defined as simply missing the mark. It’s failing to do what is right. You will notice that you also try to do what is right. You aim to do something good for your health and for yourself. But what often happens, you miss the mark. In the words of the above writer, you sin. Sin is always near you.
Understanding and learning how to constructively work with these two natures and voices is key to self-discipline and self-discipline is key to success in every area of your life.
Everybody hears these two inner voices. What you do with them determines how your life will look like!
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