I want to be honest with you about something the modern church does not love to hear. A great deal of what we have been calling spiritual warfare is honestly just our flesh acting up.
Galatians five lists the works of the flesh in plain language. Sexual immorality, indecency, idolatry, witchcraft, hostility, strife, jealousy, rage, selfish ambition, dissension, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. The Bible does not call those things spirits. The Bible calls them works of the flesh. And there is a meaningful difference between a work of the flesh and the activity of a demon.
We have raised a generation of believers who think every bad mood is a demonic attack, every selfish reaction is a generational curse, and every appetite is a stronghold. That language sounds spiritual. It is mostly just exhausting.
Let me give you a freeing truth. Witchcraft is a work of the flesh. It is in Galatians five right there with jealousy and drunkenness. I am not saying witches are not real. I am saying do not be afraid of what has no real power over a son or daughter of God. The same chapter that names witchcraft as flesh also tells you that walking in the Spirit will keep you from carrying out the desires of the flesh.
Why does this distinction matter? Because flesh and spirits are dealt with differently.
A spirit is bound and cast out. A work of the flesh is crucified and grown out of. Cast out spirits all day if that is what is happening, but you cannot cast out an immature habit. You have to grow up out of it. You have to be trained. You have to be taught. You have to put away childish things.
Here is a hard but loving question. How much energy have you spent rebuking the desire to gossip when what you actually needed was to repent and grow up. How much time have you spent binding the spirit of envy when what you actually needed was a maturity check. How much warfare have you waged against the spirit of lust when what you actually needed was a healthier walk with the Spirit who keeps you from carrying out those desires in the first place.
I am not minimizing real spiritual encounters. I have walked with people in genuine prophetic guidance and deliverance. I have seen demons cast out and I have seen the freedom that follows. But here is the catch from Scripture. When a demon is cast out, it walks looking for rest. If it finds the house swept and clean but empty, it comes back with seven more, and the latter state of the person is worse than the first. The cleansing alone was not enough. The house had to be filled.
That is the missing piece in so many of our deliverance conversations. Filling. The continual infilling of the Spirit. The continual filling with the Word. The continual filling with the kind of mature, daily walk that leaves no room for a returning spirit to settle.
So here is the framework I want to leave you with. When something is rising in you, ask three questions in order:
- Is this just my flesh asking to grow up? If the answer is yes, repent, walk by the Spirit, and outgrow it.
- Is this a habit pattern that needs to be retrained? If the answer is yes, discipline yourself in righteousness, get accountability, fill your house with the Word.
- Is this an actual spirit that needs to be dealt with? If the answer is yes, bind it, cast it out, and immediately fill the space with the Spirit of God so nothing can return.
Most of us never make it past question one. We jump to question three because it sounds more spiritual. It feels better to fight a demon than to admit we are immature. But Christian maturity is what God is after.
Old things are passing away. Behold, all things are becoming new. That is not a one time event. It is a long slow becoming. You will not always wrestle with what you wrestle with now. You will not always want what you want now. The desires you used to chase are losing their grip because your spirit is shifting and you are growing up.
Stop calling your flesh a spirit. Stop binding what God told you to outgrow. Walk in the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.
Dr. Connie Williams is the founder of Connie Williams Ministries, Inc., a prophetic teaching and coaching ministry of over 35 years. Join the prophetic community at https://community.drconniewilliams.org
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