The Devil or the Flesh?evil tendencies; you are just dealing with your flesh.
All too often believers try to take the easy way out
and call these evil tendencies of the flesh a "demon" or
an "evil spirit." That way they don't have any
responsibility; they can blame everything on Satan. But
the Bible just calls these evil tendencies man's fleshly
nature, and the believer has to do something about that
himself.
The only way you can put on "the new man" is to
renew your mind with the Word of God. Putting off the
old man and putting on the new man is part of your
"reasonable service" or your "spiritual worship" (Rom.
12:1,2).
You've got to keep those evil tendencies and
attitudes under the dominion of your spirit—the man
on the inside—and let the new creature in Christ
dominate. As you "put on" Christ you'll be able to walk
in the Spirit of God and not in the flesh where you are
an easy prey for Satan.
If you didn't have your flesh and its carnal nature to
deal with, you wouldn't be human. And as long as
you're in your body, you will have your fleshly, carnal
nature to contend with. For example, if someone hits
you and your flesh isn't in subjection to your spirit, it
will want to retaliate and hit him back. That's the way
the carnal nature acts apart from God. If someone hurts
you, your flesh wants to get even and retaliate and hold
bitterness and resentment against the person.
That's the old "get-even" nature of the flesh. It's not
a devil or demonic activity. It's just the carnal nature of
man left unchecked. "You hurt me and I'll get even with
you." Have you ever heard Christians talk that way?
Flesh is just that way, and that's why you've got to keep
it under the dominion of the man on the inside "...