 Why is God so cruel? He makes us deny ourselves, deny things about ourselves that feel so cord who we are. It seems like a power trip to me. But here's the thing though, actually God is graciously protecting us. Because of our sin nature inherited from Adam in the garden, our desires have been disordered. Desires, behaviors, thoughts that seem good and natural to us are actually waging war against our souls. Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against your soul. But this is a battle on our own that we constantly find ourselves losing. Whatever the stronghold is in your life, greed, lust, pride, through Jesus you can overcome it. For the weapons of our warfare are not of flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. Today invite God into the battle. Say God I need you, I've been doing this on my own for too long. Equip me with your spiritual weapons of warfare that I can overcome sin in my life.