day no. 15,397: passions produce pressure

Romans 8:5-9
Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

Passions insist on being practiced. When two passions clash, the more intense one will prevail. Our passions are often at war within ourselves, which is the natural state of the regenerated Christian who now possesses two natures: an old man and a new man. 

The MCDP defines war as, "a violent struggle between two hostile, independent, and. irreconcilable wills, each trying to impose itself on the other." In other words, war is two opposing wills who both want to win. However, it's not as though we are entirely at the mercy of whatever passion is prevailing upon us at any particular moment. We have the ability to feed the passion we prefer and to empower and equip and outfit it with the firepower it needs to win the battle. Napoleon noted, "An army marches on its stomachs." And so it goes with our passions. The one you feed has what it needs to win its battles.

Galatians 5:16-17, 24-25
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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...  Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

Passions produce pressure. 

Our passions force our hands. We will either crucify our fleshly passions by starving them and doing our very best to murder, NOT manage, them; or we will gratify them by feeding them and subsequently providing them fresh shipments of shells which they will then use to fire upon whatever godly intentions still remain after the dust settles.