2 Timothy 1:7-10
“7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 8 So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life-- not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time, 10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

2 Peter 1:3-11
“3 His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”

Romans 8:5-18
5 Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; 7 the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. 8 Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. 9 You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you. 12 Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation-- but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the sinful nature, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, 14 because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs-- heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.

Spiritual Conflict
In every human soul, there is a conflict between the Spirit and the sinful nature. No one has mastered all these elements perfectly so they are always and completely under the control of the Holy Spirit. By the same token, no person is so bound up in habits and sins that they cannot be freed and come under the Lord’s control.

Spiritual Conflict played out in our lives
When you think about most of the habits, they are about making my flesh feel good. Tobacco gives you a rush. Your blood vessels open up and you get a good feeling. Alcohol makes you feel good. Drugs are designed to produce a good feeling. Pornography and misuse of food are all about feeling good.

The first key to breaking free is to get a new Spirit within you. The Bible calls this being born again. God’s Spirit comes into your life and gives you new birth. Romans 8:16 shows us that we can become children of God.

The second key is to live in accordance with the Spirit. You are no longer a slave to the old ways of doing things. Even though you are instantly saved, you gradually put on the character of Jesus. 2 Peter 1:8 sees these spiritual qualities as coming in increasing measure.

The Lenten Season is a special time of the year when we give special attention to this part of our lives. We intentionally strengthen our spiritual attachments, and we intentionally weaken our fleshly attachments.

By daily prayer, we strengthen our relationship with the Spirit.

By weekly fasting, we weaken our attachment to the flesh.

By reading the Scriptures, we listen to the Spirit.

By almsgiving, we share the love of God with those who are hurting.

Spiritual disciplines teach us to emphasize the Spirit not the body. Certain of the Spiritual disciplines, such as fasting, teach us to share in the sufferings of Christ in the wilderness. It allows us to humble our souls.

On this particular Sunday, we emphasize freedom from life controlling habits. If some habit controls your life, that is one less thing that the Spirit controls. Not all these habits are sinful.

The use of illegal drugs is always sinful. The very last thing Jesus did while alive was to refuse to use the drugs that would have dulled his pain upon the cross.

Misuse of food might be so bad that it qualifies as sinful, or it might just be an area that is out of control.

Use of tobacco is probably not sinful as such. Some people think it is, but I personally don’t think so. What I say is that it probably won’t send you to hell. In fact, it might send you to heaven even sooner than you expect.

Drunkenness is always sinful. Underage use of alcohol is sinful. Other use of alcohol probably is not. However, there are so many problems associated with alcohol, I recommend against it. If it is not an alcoholic problem for you, how about this? Why not stop your use of alcohol between now and Easter. Give the money you would otherwise spent for alcohol to almsgiving. Two goods come out of that. Your Spirit is strengthened, and someone else is blessed.

Sin we definitely want to get rid of. These other areas we put into the category of allowing our Spirit to be strengthened. There is nothing wrong with normal eating of food. However, by fasting once a week, we demonstrate that we want our Spirit to be in control of our bodies.