I was talking to a couple of fellow co-workers the other day, and during our conversation, one of them said out of the blue, “Two wolves”. They both looked at each other with a knowing smile. Apparently, I wasn’t aware of what this phrase meant, especially in the context of what we were talking about, so I asked him to explain. He began to tell me that this phrase was from a movie he had watched with his children called Tomorrowland. I remember seeing the commercial on television, so I knew which movie he was referring to. He went on to say that during the movie there was a dialog between two of the characters and this dialog included the phrase “two wolves.” Now little did I know that this phrase comes from an old Cherokee proverb or fable, and this phrase actually has great spiritually meaning. Below is that proverb.

“One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, generosity, empathy, truth, compassion, and faith.” The grandson thought about this for a minute and then asked the grandfather, “Which wolf wins?” The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Interesting that the concept mirrors what Jesus said in the New Testament. Jesus said in Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.(NKJV)

In kingdom principles, there are only two mindsets. One that follows God, and one that follows the flesh. I know in my lifetime at some point or another I have feigned confusion about which one I am following, but in reality, I am not confused at all. The reality is that I am just turning a blind eye to the one I am allowing to lead me. My faith is fed by time spent in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, time spent in the Word, and time spent in prayer. What also feeds my faith is time spent in fellowship with my brothers and sisters in the Lord. Many times I will find myself forsaking the latter. Why? There could be many reasons, or there could be one reason, the point is that as a Christian in the faith, I need to be reminded that I am not in this fight alone. Not only should I have fellowship with the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:14), but I also must have fellowship with the breather of Christ, and honor them above myself. (Rom 12:10)

The real bottom line is though, who am I allowing dominance in my life? Who am I feeding? Am I feeding my soul, with the cares of this world, which leads to death and entices the carnal desires of my life? Or am I feeding my Spirit-man, with the word and breath of God, which is the blood of Christ and the Spirit of God? Doing so brings me closer in relationship with the Holy Spirit, and ultimately to the understanding of true peace and the Father’s heart for my life. It’s a life long struggle between the flesh and our spirit-man, our soul is in flux, but this doesn’t have to be a constant for us as men and women of God.

I like to think of my soul as Switzerland. It’s neutral in all conflicts, it’s neutral in all peace. What my soul wants is a leader. A leader to show it the way it should react, or respond. On one side of my neutral soul is my flesh and on the other side is my spirit-man. Much like the old Cherokee proverb of the two wolves, my soul is looking for which one will feed it. Now before I go any further, I am going to lay down some scriptural references concerning the spirit, soul and body.

1 Thessalonians 5:23(ESV) “Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hebrews 4:12(ESV) “For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

Genesis 2:7(ESV) “ then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.”

Galatians 5:16-17(ESV) ” But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.”

I believe that our soul was created when God breathed the breath of life into the nostrils of Adam (Gen 2:7). This action I believe is what created the soul of man. In Hebrew the word, “ruach” means “breath or Spirit of God”. It was the combination of man’s flesh, and God’s Spirit, which in turn created the soul. So there is a struggle between the flesh, our carnal nature, and our spirit-man for dominance over our soul. These are our two wolves, which battle each other and they are both wanting and needing to be fed. It’s the decisions we make on a day-to-day basis that decide which “wolf” is fed and which wolf takes control of our soul. Is our life filled with hate, jealousy, and strife? Then our flesh is the dominant wolf. Is our life filled with love, joy, and a wanting to draw closer to the Lord? Then our spirit-man is the dominant wolf.

I have been really thinking about something that I heard during a sermon, that the Native Americans are some of the lost tribes of Israel and they already had a concept of the teaching of Jehovah. Maybe, maybe not. I am not sure at this point, but what I do know is that we must not lean on our own understanding when it comes to the things of the Spirit, but lean on the shoulders of Christ and allow Him to show us all truth and knowledge concerning our lives in Him and His life in us.