When we are tempted to sin, it might be helpful to look at it like this: It’s our old nature ‘v’ our new nature. It’s as though we have two dogs inside our heads – a good dog and a bad dog – and both of them are constantly squabbling for the same piece of meat; they are fighting to take control of our lives, to dominate our thinking and attention and make us their slave. Whichever dog we feed the most is the one that grows dominant and gains control over us. What we have to do, then, is to feed the good dog and starve the bad dog. In other words, we need to do what is right, not what is wrong. And when we find ourselves sinning – as we will – we must immediately cut off the food supply, we must repent and turn away from the sin, we must starve the bad dog by consciously feeding the good dog!

R. Ian Seymour

When we are tempted to sin, it might be helpful to look at it like this: It’s our old nature ‘v’ our new nature. It’s as though we have two dogs inside our heads – a good dog and a bad dog – and both of them are constantly squabbling for the same piece of meat; they are fighting to take control of our lives, to dominate our thinking and attention and make us their slave. Whichever dog we feed the most is the one that grows dominant and gains control over us. What we have to do, then, is to feed the good dog and starve the bad dog. In other words, we need to do what is right, not what is wrong. And when we find ourselves sinning – as we will – we must immediately cut off the food supply, we must repent and turn away from the sin, we must starve the bad dog by consciously feeding the good dog!

R. Ian Seymour