A soccer ball is made in three parts: outer skin or shell, the bladder, and air. Without each component operating as designed, the ball is not usable. Like a ball, we were designed and created into three parts; body (physical), soul (mind, will and emotions) and the spirit. Likewise, without all three components working as designed, we are not useable for God in his Kingdom. As a result of sin, our minds have a distorted view of God, ourselves, and others. Our emotions may reflect our negative-flesh state of mind resulting in anxiety, sense of worthlessness, insignificance, unacceptable, hopeless, helpless, and failure. Alternatively, our emotions may reflect a positive-flesh state of self-strength, self-confidence, competency, success, and security. Our will, the decision maker in us, chooses to depend on the flesh, so our decision-making abilities are also corrupted. Our mind, the processor in us, sees the world with a corrupted lens. And our emotions, the “feeler” in us views the world only from the selfish perspective. Regardless of positive or negative flesh, the result is life in constant stress, conflict, and frustration.

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Flesh may be defined as the condition in which we operate out of our own resources. Doing things in our own way, outside the influence of God. We operate out of our sinful nature, instead of the indwelling spirit of God, to meet our needs for security, love, and affirmation. The flesh attempts to develop a self-identity or self-image which is not centered on our identity in Christ.

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The ball valve represents how and where we inflate and deflate ourselves. The flesh, in its attempt to create a self-image, relies on external things of this world to inflate and deflate us; to make one feel accepted, to control one’s pain, to manipulate others to feel good, and self-abuse including sex, drugs, alcohol and many other addictions.

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Sin is a thing that resides in every person. Sin is a thing, and it is also an act. Sin is the open door through which Satan feeds the lies of this world to us. Because we sin, God is separated from us. The combination of sin and flesh locks us into a self-made prison which we call “living below the line”.

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Satan is deceiving us by:

1. Lying about the truth about ourselves and God. When you know the truth, you can identify the lies and reject them. Those who are deceived will receive the lies.

2. Lying about the truth of God’s character. Our flesh serves only one God. It is either us or Jesus. When we know God’s true character, we will make decisions in obedience to God’s will. When we are deceived, we will make decision outside the will of God.

3. Leading us to believe that inflation is good, and we must have it now. Satan wants to deceive us about the negative impacts, the deflation. He will tell you “Oh it really won’t hurt you”.

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Jesus is the only one who has the key to unlock us from our prison. He is the only one who can satisfy God’s loving desire to see use as his righteousness. There is only one solution, one redeemer, one perfect sacrifice that will satisfy God’s law of justice and that is to surrender your life to Jesus Christ.