Flesh-preservation

I opened up Matthew 16 and started reading it from verse 21 where Jesus predicted his death to his disciples. As he uttered the scary words to those that loved him, Peter began to reprimand Him and he said; “God forbid Master! Spare yourself. You must never let this happen to you!” (TPT). And Jesus in response said “Get out of my way, you Satan! You are a hindrance to me, because your thoughts are only filled with man’s viewpoints and not with the ways of God.” The verse that was laid on my heart was verse 26 but I had to pause and understand this interaction between Jesus and Peter which eventually led to the words in verse 26. In a commentary it says “Jesus is equating Peter's display of character to that of Satan. Peter was not possessed by Satan, but speaking from Satan's realm and speaking demonic wisdom.” And according to James 3:15, things that are earthly and of demonic wisdom are selfishness and jealousy and I think we can all point out the 'selfishness' in Peter’s advice to Jesus. But to be honest, if you'd asked me, I understand why Peter responded like that, I’d probably have responded like that if my Rabbi, thee Messiah, said he was going to be killed by some religious men. But I also see the necessity for Jesus to rebuke Peter. Because Peter was, out of many things, operating in fear. Fear of losing the one he loved drove him to act out of 'protection'. This verse had me thinking of self preservation especially when you read this particular verse alongside verse 26,  "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will find it". Self-preservation is defined as the protection of oneself from harm or death.

Peter said ‘spare yourself’ and he didn’t know that he was telling Jesus to spare Himself from dying on the cross for all humanity (including him btw) to be in right standing with God. Of course that’s a hindrance to Jesus, especially after you read how he was ‘dreading’ to drink that cup of suffering (Luke 22:42). And of course those words Peter uttered were way out of God’s will. Yeah sure, Peter did not understand that yet, but there is definitely something for us to learn here. Even though self-preservation is a natural instinct, it can still be a thorn in our faith if we are always trying to protect our flesh. And a great example is that of Peter who I have no doubt loved Jesus.

Don’t get me wrong I’m not talking about the day to day acts of self preservation like eating or whatever that you do to stay alive & healthy. I'm trying to link this to us, as followers of Christ. I’m talking about the act of preserving our flesh, where you avoid dying, the same dying Jesus talks about in this passage of scripture (see verse 26). That is the thorn I am talking about where we are trying to keep the flesh alive not knowing that we are losing our soul (and this could even occur because of fear). A personal example I can share is when my flatmate confronted me for leaving my breakfast bowl in the sink several times that week. Even though she was right, my mind immediately started dishing out excuses or comebacks in my defence because in that moment I was feeling uncomfortable. It was as if I couldn't bear being in the wrong, all I felt and heard was "attack, attack, attack". I was tempted to go in full defence mode or reversing the roles somehow, which to be honest is way out of character (I'm shocked myself). In the end, I had gone against our shared space agreement without communicating or considering her. I had to let that pride go, and stop myself from trying to 'preserve myself'. This is a very small example but I wanted to show how the act of trying to protect oneself can hinder you from doing what is holy and acceptable to God. This is how self (or as I call it flesh) preservation can look like today, it could be fear of being cancelled, fear of being perceived, selfishness, pride, etc. And this is how it can be a hindrance to our faith:

• You could disobey God because you are in fear of whatever “harm or discomfort” might come with obeying, just like Peter

• It breeds selfishness, everything you do and say is for self instead of God and His glory

• It becomes tough to sacrifice anything and unfortunately sacrifice and selfishness cannot exist in the same place.

• Withholds servanthood & no space for humility

• You will actually lose your life because you are holding on to this earthly one and yourself

Jesus is worth dying for (daily), do not fear. And if that means to deny self for His glory to be displayed, it is really worth it.