The Bully
Every day I face a bully. In the morning he comments about my graying hair and bulbous midsection. It seems he’s always there when I face a challenge, to tell me how incapable I am. When things go wrong, the bully is right there to assure me that things will continue to go wrong. If I find myself in a time of prosperity, he will whisper in my ear that it won’t last and often I believe him. When my friends and family are having tough times, the bully tells me that “misery loves company.” Yet, when they are prospering, he tells me that they deserve it more than I do and encourages me to be jealous and envious. Even when God blesses me, the bully is always there to taint the blessing with reminders of all the times I’ve sinned against God.
As a scrawny kid who wore glasses, bullies plagued my school life for Kindergarten through my Senior year. Many years I lived in fear of getting on the school bus, going into the boy’s locker room, or walking down the hall between classes. More than once I was tripped, snapped with a wet towel, and had my books scattered across a busy hall by the hand of a bully. However, this new bully never threatens me or picks a fist fight. This bully prefers to taunt and tease with words. He loves to beat down my self-esteem with degrading comments. He enjoys bringing up the list of my past failures and tells me that my life is just one failure after the last. Sometimes the bully even enlists the help of another person who tells me of my faults or failings.
I’ve spoken with other people and it appears that I am not the only victim of this bully. Others have shared their experiences with him. His taunting has been so strong with some that it has led to depression and even suicide. He isn’t bothered by the devastation left in his path, making him one of the most feared bullies of all times.
Who is this bully? It’s the flesh. Imagine that! It is my own flesh man who has bullied me all my life. It was my flesh looking back at me in the mirror. This flesh bully has been leading people into temptation and disaster for thousands of years. The ancient serpent used the flesh to tempt Adam and Eve. It was the flesh bully that caused Cain to kill his brother Able. The flesh caused the downfall of mankind, resulting in the flood. The Israelites listened to the flesh bully and spent forty years making an eleven day journey. Moses, the liberator, succumbed to his flesh and died in the wilderness. In fact it was this flesh bully who caused the Son of God to die on that old rugged cross. The religious leaders of that time were so enamored by the flesh that they didn’t even recognize the Messiah. However, it was the sin of the flesh that actually put Jesus on the cross.
In Romans 6:6, the Apostle Paul says, “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin…” Jesus died on the cross so that we no longer had to be slave to the bully. Yet, I find that even though I am a new creation in Christ, I still battle that same bully each day. Just like the school yard bullies in my past, nothing seems to stop him from attacking me. I recall the times in school when facing a bully, friends came to my aid and I thank God that I don’t have to fight him alone; my friend Jesus is always there face the bully. Unlike the school bullies, the flesh bully has no power, unless we let him. Jesus took his power away at the cross. So, next time that bully shows up, you just shout for your friend Jesus and watch the flesh bully run.
