This modern-day parable was posted on bibleforums.org:

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on
inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between 2 “wolves” inside us
all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret,greed, arrogance,
self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and
ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility,
kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his
grandfather:”Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

A well-meaning individual replied that the story was not biblical. I submit that it can be interpreted biblically.

This story, the origins of which are unknown (possibly invented by a preacher as an illustration), is not unbiblical. The full context of what Paul said in Romans 7 helps us see that.

Romans 7:17-23 (NIV)
As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. (18) I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (19) For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do–this I keep on doing. (20) Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it. (21) So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. (22) For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; (23) but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members.

The TRUE inner being of a redeemed believer is the “good wolf” that delights in God’s law. The “bad wolf” that is waging war with our new spirit (our true self) is the dead remnant of our sinful nature.

The other aspect of the story, the winning wolf being the one that gets fed, is also biblical.

See what Jesus said in the gospel of Matthew:

Matthew 6:21-24 (NIV)
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (22) “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. (23) But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness! (24) “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.

If you compare “food” in the wolf story to “light” in Jesus’ analogy about a lamp, the meanings are very similar. What you focus on, what you fill your life with, determines who you become.

Who would have thought a simple illustration could be so controversial?

Perhaps it would be helpful to remember that no illustration is all-encompassing. An illustration is useful to demonstrate one or more concepts in a way that enhances understanding and is easy to remember. If you try to apply a given illustration to other concepts besides what it’s intended to address, it probably won’t fit very well.

For example, say I shared an illustration about a master who forgave a servant a great debt, and point to the illustration as an example of God’s forgiveness of our sin. Someone might say, “that’s an unbiblical illustration, because in John 15:15, Jesus says, ‘I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.’ ” While that’s a misapplication of John 15:15, it’s also a misunderstanding of Jesus’ parable in Matthew 18. The point of the parable was not the master/servant relationship between us and God; the point of the parable was the need for us to forgive others, particularly in light of the huge debt that has been lifted from us.

Obviously the Bible doesn’t talk about a “bad wolf” and a “good wolf” inside of us. The whole point of an illustration is to present a spiritual truth using a story that is NOT straight from the Bible. If you take something straight from scripture, it’s not an illustration, it’s just…well, scripture.

To understand if the story is biblical, we need to understand the point of the story. The way I understand the story, there are two points being made:
1. There is a conflict between our spirit and our flesh. That conflict is clearly biblical.
2. We can influence which side exerts control based on the “food” we consume. This is where the passage from Matthew 6 comes in. Galatians 6:8 also testifies to the fact that we play a role in “feeding” one nature or the other. “The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.” Philippians 4:8 is a perfect example of “feeding” the spirit. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.” We can also see exhortation in the scripture to “starve” the old sinful self. “You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires. Put off falsehood…steal no longer…do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths…get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” (excerpts from Ephesians 4:22-31)

Now, let’s take a look at some of the story’s shortcomings. Just this story by itself, without a proper understanding of it’s limited scope, might imply that Good and Evil are equal and opposite forces. Someone might read this story and understand the Good Wolf and Evil Wolf as comparable to the Light Side and Dark Side of the Force, or the Yin and Yang of Taoism. This would obviously be an unbiblical interpretation, and it is worthwhile to make sure that no one comes away with this interpretation.

Another interpretation that is unbiblical would be to assume that our actions (works) determine our salvation, i.e., the ultimate victor in the battle between our flesh (the evil wolf) and our spirit (the good wolf). In reality, one of the wolves is already dead. For an unbeliever, the spirit is dead, and the flesh reigns. For a believer, the flesh has been crucified, and the spirit is reborn. This crucifixion of the flesh and rebirth of our spirit is accomplished by Jesus, not by anything we do.

So, while there are invalid (unbiblical) interpretations that could be gathered from the story, it can also be used to illustrate our role in the ongoing spiritual battle, which is biblical.