The Alpha of the War and Peace of our Souls

UV 2145/10000 The Alpha of the War and Peace of our Souls
Dearly beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;
I Peter 2 v 11
We are not to live in this world as if this is our permanent or eternal home. Even our bodies are the temporary residence of our eternal spirits. This is the reason Peter addresses believers of Jesus as strangers and pilgrims. We are sojourners or travellers. Like a pilgrim, we travel with a light or good conscience. Like a pilgrim, we revere the Holy Spirit at every step we take in our lives. While our legit desires for food, clothing, shelter, companionship are to be satisfied, we should do nothing that would feed our illegitimate desires, the desires that the enemy has planted in our minds. These desires are at war with the desires of our spirits. When we yield to those desires we are trying to pitch our tents permanently here on Earth. We are to clothe ourselves with the grace of Jesus and overcome the lusts of the flesh, eye and pride. Paul refers to us as strangers, implying non-citizens of this world. Hence, many of the rules and principles of this fallen world do not apply to us. A pilgrimage is not a pleasure tour. Hence, our lives are promising to be difficult and challenging, not easy or smooth.
As citizens of another kingdom , the eternal one ruled by the Father jointly with Christ, we are to uphold the standards and principles Christ taught us and is still teaching us through the Holy Spirit. We are to live a life worthy of our great calling, pursuing righteousness, love, faith, hope, peace, mercy and wisdom. As ambassadors of Christ, we should remember to conduct ourselves with the dignity, courage and poise of Christ. He gives us victory in the inner war being fought continually in our minds and souls. We should realize that we are not lone pilgrims trudging a lonely path but we have scores of people accompanying us on the journey. There are only two kinds of people we encounter in this world- the fellow pilgrims and the permanent settlers, the citizens of this world. We should take care not to be influenced or to emulate the latter in our choices or behaviour. The citizens of this world are marked by love of selves, love of money, love of power, love of pleasure, love of self glorification, pride, envy, contentiousness and egoism. While not judging or hating them for these qualities for we were once like them, we need to put a safe distance between us and these characteristics.
Instead of seeking to do that which our flesh or minds want, we should diligently seek the will of God by studying the scripture. It gives us the roadmap to reach our permanent or eternal home on high. We need to live our lives on Earth as if it is only a preparation, a preamble, a pit stop before we get to the kingdom of heaven. When we get immersed in our daily schedule of activities, it is easy to forget this but by being contstantly alert, by being watchful and prayerful, we can win this war. We put to death or crucify our lusts and pride and live for Christ, producing the spiritual fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self control. Every battle we win in the war of life gives us strength, courage and confidence for the next battle. Even if we lose a battle or two, the Lord gives us grace to get up again, dust ourselves and join the war on His side- the winning side.