Your Battle Within (#1)

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There is a battle you fight every day.

Every day, you fight a battle within yourself.
Sometimes you recognize it.
Sometimes you don’t.

But this struggle is part of your purpose in life.

This is the fight against
your Yetzer Hara (evil inclination)

G-d put a tendency in every person not to serve Him
so we would have free choice to serve Him.

Everyone is given a choice to do good or evil.

HaShem wants you in this battle.

He is happy when you win the battle
and overcome your Yetzer Hara (evil inclination).

The tzaddik is the rare person who is on
such a high level
that he no longer has an attraction to evil.
He has overcome his Yetzer Hara.

The Joy of your Striving

The Jew who is not serving G-d at all
is still motivated by the hidden love of HaShem
all Jews possess.

This love is your inheritance from the Patriarchs:
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

When you serve HaShem with this love
no additional effort is required.

You are doing what comes naturally.

The level most of us should strive for is the
Beinoni (the intermediate person).

The Beinoni, unlike the Tzaddik is the person who
still experience negative desires.

But the Beinoni does not allow his negative desires
to control his thoughts, speech, or actions.

The Beinoni does not sin.

But he still possesses an urge or strong desire for evil.

It is through awareness and strengthening your
G-dly soul that you overcome your
animal soul in thought, speech and action.

You are then serving HaShem in the moment by
fighting your Yetzer Hara.

Your main service of HaShem is to overwhelm
your Yetzer Hara and remove it
from what is known as the “small city” (the body).

You are now fighting against your negative traits of anger,
jealousy, lust, impatience and doubts.

You can win this battle!

Based on a lecture by Rabbi Mordechai Finkelman

Question: Are you able to quiet your mind if
inappropriate thoughts enter it?

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