We are at war.

No, I am not talking about war in a national sense, but in an individual sense. Both outwardly and inwardly, we are at war individually.

Every Christian is constantly fighting an individual war. Not against sin; that was rendered powerless in Jesus’ victory at Calvary.

Not against Satan; he also was defeated at the cross. No, this fight is against our old flesh (sin nature) and our new nature (placed in us by the Holy Spirit).

The truth is, God has given us the victory in every battle — but the battles still must be waged and won by what we choose to do.

When we pay more attention to the desires of the flesh, Paul points out the results (Galatians 5:19-21).

And when we follow the Holy Spirit, he also points out what the results will be: You decide the outcome of every battle and warfare.

"I advise you to obey only the Holy Spirit’s instructions. He will tell you where to go and what to do, and then you won’t always be doing the wrong things your evil nature wants you to.

"For we naturally love to do evil things that are just the opposite from the things that the Holy Spirit tells us to do; and the good things we want to do when the Spirit has his way with us are just the opposite of our natural desires.

"These two forces within us are constantly fighting each other to win control over us, and our wishes are never free from their pressures."

(Galatians 5:16-18) TLB.

We don’t always get to pick our battles, but we do get to pick their outcome.

Dr. William Burnham is pastor of Point of Grace Church in Covington. He can be reached at burnhamw@charter.net.