BIBLE PASSAGE:
So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you
will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
(Galatians 5:16)
MEDITATION:
In the previous passage, Paul spoke truth to the Christians in
Galatia. That truth applies to all Christians, including Christians
today. His plea is for believers to not waste their ‘freedom in Christ’
by serving their own flesh and selfish desires. Instead, he has told
those ‘free in Christ’ to serve each other in love. He is describing a
life of self-sacrifice that is lived in response to God’s love for us
(Galatians 5:13–15).
Now Paul begins to describe how to live in this way. We know
that this kind of love does not come naturally. Not only do we
resist giving up our own way, but we often simply do not know
how to love in this manner. Since we do not have a roadmap to
guide our decisions, how can we use our freedom in Christ to
love each other?
Paul points to the only source of power and wisdom beyond ourselves;
it comes from the Holy Spirit of God. He revealed earlier in this letter
that the Spirit comes to live in the hearts of every one of God’s sons
and daughters (Galatians 4:6). Now Paul tells us to use this freedom
we have been given in Christ, to access the power of God’s Spirit in
our hearts and in our everyday lives. He tells us, literally, to walk, and
keep on walking, by the Spirit’s power and guidance.
Paul encourages us to stop trying to serve each other in love on our
own, but to access the Spirit of God to help and guide us in all that
we do.
This concept may be confusing and possibly even seem like a mysterious
idea, but it’s saying that people who are ‘free in Christ’ can avoid giving
in to the desires of our flesh. It’s how we overcome our strong appetites
to do what ‘feels good’, but are not within God’s guidelines for living the
Christian life. Only in the Spirit’s power can say no to ourselves.
Walking by the Spirit means living a life in the Spirit. It is living our life
in the continual presence of the Spirit of God. Look at what Jesus tell us
in John 15:
We need to abide in him (basically the same as living in the Spirit).
If we abide in Jesus, the Spirit is working within us. So as we abide
in Jesus Christ, as we abide in that vine (as a branch abides in the vine),
the Holy Spirit is pulsating the sap into our body. And He is producing
the fruit in our lives. But, as Jesus said,
“When we are separated from that vine, we will shrivel up and die.”
So walking in the spirit is having a God-consciousness. It’s having the
influence of Christ in all we do. It’s pursuing God with all of our heart
(we have been commanded to obey, love, and serve). It’s having no other
gods or idols before us, but serving God alone with all of our heart.
We need to understand that when we talk about abiding in Jesus – it
means we practice what we call the ‘spiritual disciplines’. We can’t
abide in Jesus just by doing what we want to do. Abiding in Jesus means
He has given us what we need to bring His grace into our lives.
When His grace has been included in our lives,
we discover ways to abide in Jesus, which include:
Bible reading, scripture memorization, prayer,
Bible passage meditation, fellowship, church
attendance, evangelism, serving other people.
It translates into a desire to give up selfishness
in favor of selflessness.
Doing some of these things may seem almost ‘mechanical’ initially,
but the more we do them, the more we will ‘feel’ their importance,
and our desire to include them in our life will increase. We will
develop an enthusiasm and look forward to how these ‘disciplines’
will impact our lives (especially our spiritual lives).
Some people may wonder, “Is there a specific explanation as to how
long I need to pray and how long I need to read the word?” That would
contradict everything Paul has already told us in Galatians, wouldn’t
it? Instead of being influenced by the Holy Spirit, we would base all
we do and think on legalism, and we can’t do that.
The amount of time we spend in prayer and Bible reading should be
a result of our heart’s desires when we follow the spiritual disciplines
God has given us.
As an example, we may have a heavy burden about something
or someone, and that could be our focus in a brief prayer.
On the other hand, we may have a burning desire to thank
God for all of His blessings, and it could cause us to have
a lengthy prayer as we recall His grace and mercy.
ACTION:
As we remain in God’s spiritual disciplines, we abide in Jesus; and
as we abide in Jesus, His Spirit is working in our lives to help us
walk in the Spirit. This may ‘sound’ complicated, but it really isn’t;
it is a desire to become more like Jesus and less like the world.
“He must become greater; I must become less”.
(John 3:30)
It is a matter of choice – either we will be in the Spirit or we will
be in the flesh. As much as we would like have both, we can’t.
God hates sins of the flesh so the two cannot coexist in our lives.
We are led by one or the other, but not both.
Think about this for a moment:
We may say to ourselves that we are living 75% by the Spirit and only
25% by the flesh. If we are living 25% by the flesh, then Satan has a
foothold and it won’t be long before he has a stronghold, which means
we will start living by the flesh much more than 25%. If we are living
50% by the Spirit and 50% by the flesh, when they are in conflict with
each other, which one will we choose? They cannot coexist in our life.
It is important for us to understand that a foothold is much easier
to break than a stronghold. Our goal as a Christian is: when we have
the Spirit dwelling within us, we have the ability and power to overcome
the flesh and continue walking in the Spirit (with God’s spiritual help).
Pray,
“Heavenly Father, help me to become less so You
can become more in my life. Forgive me for living
a life of fulfilling my selfish desires and help me to
learn how to walk in the Spirit.”
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