I don’t like conflict.

I don’t like to be in it, and I don’t even like to witness it. I still remember 15 years ago going to see the movie Meet the Parents and watching the whole thing while squirming in my seat with one hand over my eyes. I toughed it out through most of the episodes of The Office, but I just couldn’t sit through the presidential debates this year. Too much conflict. Too uncomfortable for me.

Most of the time, I know when my day is going to involve a contentious conversation either at home or at work. Because I do, I can sort of emotionally prepare myself for what’s coming, but it’s never easy for me. To me, conflict is always bad news.

Except when it’s not. And for the Christian, there’s one circumstance of conflict that is never, ever bad news. Read from Paul on the subject:

“I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want” (Gal. 5:16-17).

There is a conflict inside every Christian. When we are born again into Christ, we are made new – new heart, new tastes, new identity, new affections. And yet the old that once was will not go quietly. There is, then, this internal battle between the flesh and the Spirit of God inside of us that’s fought on a myriad of battlefields, both big and small, both visible and invisible. And you know what it feels like.

You know the pull of sin. The empty promises of satisfaction. The tug of desire for immediate gratification. And you know the inclinations of the Spirit toward truth, goodness, humility, and holiness. And you know the internal tug of war as well as I do. It’s conflict in its purest form, and for the Christian, this conflict is good news.

Consider for a moment what the very presence of that fight inside you means. It means God has not given up on you. It means He is committed to making you more like Jesus. It means that the Holy Spirit of God is alive and well in you, and is fighting for your sanctification. It means that your faith is real.

Oh, this fight is painful. Oh, this fight is hard. Oh, this fight will continue on. But oh, this is a fight that is good news.

So if you find yourself today, again, in yet another battle, rejoice! Praise the Lord for His work in you! Conversely, though, if you have become dull to this battle, beware. Beware if the thought has crept in that you’re pretty much there. That you don’t have a long way to go. Or that the fight is simply not worth it any more. Beware, and get back in the fight by faith.