Fast 40: Practicing the Ancient Spiritual Discipline of LentSample

Another, perhaps more pertinent, name for the flesh is the "self." As we have seen, Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, but He's not approving suicide. He means, as I have said before, that there are two senses to the self: there is the self that is recreated in God, that desires God above all things, and then there is the self that was condemned by God, that desires itself above all things—and it's that self that must be denounced and renounced.

As St. Thomas Aquinas said, "Whatever springs from disordered self-love is called a work of the flesh." The Scripture says, "Men will be in love with self..." and really, it's that disordered self-love that is the root of all sin.

Why did Satan fall? Love of self.
Why did Adam fall? Love of self.
What did all of the temptations of Christ appeal to? Love of self.
What is the problem with our society? Love of self.

Your main problem is not the government (as bad as it is), it's not your family (as dysfunctional as they are), it's not your pastor (as carnal as he may be), it's not even the world or the devil. The primary problem is you. We are our own greatest enemy. Your flesh is the greatest enemy of your spirit. And if you don't recognize the self—that tendency to be self-centered, self-focused, self-absorbed, self-ambitious, self-confident, self-esteemed, self-helped—then you are simply self-deceived.