A Lesson From Gollum
The Lord of the Rings series by J.R. R. Tolkein is a work that has influenced so many genres of film and literature – especially the fantasy genre. Even if you haven’t seen the movies or read the books, perhaps you’ve heard the names of “Frodo”, “Bilbo”, “Gandalf”, or even “Gollum”. Even rock bands like Led Zeppelin have referenced this series in a few of their songs. What I love about this series is how all the characters have depth. They have their own motivations that make them stand out and become relatable.
One character, in particular, Gollum/Smeagol, is quite interesting. If you’re familiar with the series, he’s the creature that helps guide Sam and Frodo to Mordor. He was once a hobbit-like person who became corrupt because the One Ring amplified his selfish desires within himself already. From his look, you can tell he’s not entirely to be trusted, but because of the power the ring has on Gollum’s heart, he seemingly helps Sam and Frodo- only to betray them in the end and try to take the ring for himself. One scene in The Two Towers shows us an interesting conversation Gollum/Smeagol has with himself. We see one side that wants to genuinely help (Smeagol), and the other who is more ruthless, selfish, and only wants to survive and take the Ring (Gollum).
This scene perfectly captures the inner struggle Gollum/Smeagol has with himself as he wants to do the right thing, but his more selfish half is there to fight against it. Sometimes Smeagol wins, but in the end, Gollum won, and it led to his own end.
Our Own Inner Battle
Just as Smeagol has a constant inner battle within himself to do the right thing, we too have an inner battle between our own desires and the desire to serve God. The Apostle Paul reminds us in Romans 7 about this.
For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
Romans 7:15-20
This passage reminds us that we are sinners, and our selfish desires are always at war within us even though we desire to follow God’s Law. When we want to do what God commands, Satan finds a way to hinder us and fight against us (The name, Satan, means “one who opposes”). Paul’s own struggle reminds us of the struggle between the two desires within us.
For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Romans 7:22-23
What Should We Do?
All throughout the Bible, God tells His people to overcome. God told the Israelites in the time of Moses and Joshua to overcome the Canaanites, but they could not. They didn’t fully keep God’s commands and were led astray from God’s Word.
Jesus showed us by example what we must overcome: the devil (Matthew 4:1-11), the world (John 16:33) – not the whole world, but the world of false teachings – and also overcoming himself. Jesus prayed to God to “remove this cup” from him, meaning he knew he had to die and part of him didn’t want to die, but he understood God’s will was greater than his own (Matthew 26:39, Luke 22:42, Heb. 5:7-8). He put down his own desires and obeyed God’s desire – which is to bring salvation to all and atone for sin.
We must also overcome our own desires, the false teachings, and the devil’s temptations. We must remain true to God’s Word of Truth and on the narrow path – the Word is the narrow path, but along the way all kinds of difficulties happen. The Apostle John reminds us to fight and overcome.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
I write to you, children,
because you know the Father.1 John 2:13
And in Revelation 2 and 3, believers are told to fight and overcome, and by doing so they will receive all the blessings.
How Can We Overcome?
Jesus said that he overcame the world in John 16:33. What does that mean? We know Jesus didn’t take a world tour, but came to the “world” of Judaism at the first coming. He overcame the false teachings the leaders were giving to the people at that time. He overcame the devil when he was in the wilderness (Matt. 4:1-11), and he overcame himself as he prayed to God on the night he was betrayed (Matt. 26:38-44). What does that mean for us?
For us as believers today, we must overcome our own thoughts, and think about what we’ve been taught. Can we really say everything we’ve been taught has come from the Bible? If we can’t answer that, then we must study again and learn the truth. We can only do that by studying God’s Word, and most importantly the prophecies of the New Testament. Those prophecies will certainly be fulfilled as they are written, and instead of looking to this person or that person for their own interpretation or opinion, we must wait for the fulfillment to come and then believe in the fulfillment (John 14:29).
As we study Scripture, the devil works hard to keep us away from knowing God and instead tries to confuse us or take away any understanding we might have. So we must overcome the devil’s lies and mixed teachings. The apostle John reminds us to overcome and how we can do that.
Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
1 John 4:4, 6
We must also overcome ourselves, our own desires, so we can focus on doing God’s will and obey His word.
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.
Galatians 5:17
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16
Let’s go back to Gollum’s story. Even though his story is fiction, it’s quite visual and maybe we can learn a bit about ourselves from him. Gollum could not overcome his own desires and ended up destroying himself. If we cannot overcome our own desires, we too will be destroyed. It can be very difficult at times to overcome our own desires. I’ve definitely failed in doing that time and again. The devil has had 6,000 years of practice at deceiving God’s people, and I am just a man. But by faith in God and in His promises, I can overcome. And so can you. Our faith is the anchor that keeps us in Christ and God. It’s the hope of our salvation.
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.
Hebrews 10:39
1 Peter 5:8-9 tells us the devil is prowling like a lion and we must resist him. So, we must not let our inner desires, our inner “Gollum”, win. Instead, we must work hard to live by the Word of God. We must repent and be born again of God’s seed. We must change how we live, think, and even speak – putting our faith into action.
I pray you and I can work hard to overcome ourselves so we can truly become born again of God’s seed, and then live by our faith.
Written by Kenny
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