HELP, MY BETTER ANGEL IS MISSING IN ACTION

Over the last few years, I have heard politicians and journalists repeat the phrase, “our better angels” with increasing frequency. This is not a phrase that I had ever heard used in my circle of friends and family. So, what does it mean? It sounds good, but I’ve learned that every phrase and cliché that sounds good sometimes has a deeper meaning that may not be so pure. The first reference to “our better angels,” is found in Abraham Lincoln’s first Inaugural Address. President Lincoln uses the phrase, “by the better angels of our nature,” in asking the United States to come together as one and preserve the Union. President Obama has used this quote several times, most recently in reference to the Arizona shooting of a Senator. My question is do we really have a “better angel in our nature?” And if we do, does that mean there is a “worse angel” in our nature?”


In the beginning, God created man in His own image. Man was pure and sinless but it didn’t take long for the “worse angel” to come along. Satan presented an offer that obviously mankind could not resist. Sin entered the picture and the war began. In Romans, the Apostle Paul discusses the lifelong struggle in a most unique way. Romans 7:15 says, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. He goes on in verse 18 and 19, “For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. 19 For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. It seems that we all suffer from the same malady as the Apostle Paul; we are all infected with the SIN NATURE. We want to do the right thing but our flesh seems to always choose the other. Some may call it a tug of war between the better angels and the worse angels of our nature, but the Bible calls it a war between the Spirit and the Flesh.

Now then, should I just give up? Does good ever win? According to Paul, nothing good dwells in us; so much for the “better angel.” Paul even calls himself a “wretched man” and asks, “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Hey, Paul, maybe now would be a good time to call on the “better angel of your nature.” But the great Apostle realized that it wasn’t the “better angel” that was going to change his will but it was, as he states in Romans 7:25, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The idea of a “better angel” with a halo on one shoulder and a “worse angel” with horns and a pitch fork on the other is really only a cartoon. There is a constant battle between our carnality and God’s holiness and our carnality will be victorious every time unless we submit our will to Jesus Christ our Lord. Galatians 5:16 gives us the antidote to our malady and the key to defeating our carnal nature, “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Our greatest weapon to winning the war; Walking in the Spirit. So if the “better angel of your nature” seems to be missing in action, the best place to begin your search is on your knees. Submit your will to God and soon you will stop doing that which you hate and discover how to perform that which is good.