Walk By The Spirit

Galatians 5:16-26 (ESV)

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17]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. [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. [19] Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, [20] idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, [21] envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. [22] But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. [24] And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

[25] If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [26] Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

This passage starts and ends by telling us to walk by the Spirit. We are definitely being challenged to start seeing the difference of being led by the Spirit and being led by our flesh; and the results of following both.

If we follow our lusts and pride (1 John 2:15-16) we can expect “sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” But if we are Spirit led we can expect our life to show “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Furthermore, verse 24 tells us that if we belong to Jesus we have put to death the flesh with its passions and desires.

Do not doubt that you belong to Jesus if some of these passions and desires seem to be alive. The ability for “lusts” to have control on us has been broken by Jesus. We may choose to have the bondage, but for us to be helplessly chained to fleshly passions and desires is not possible – Jesus took care of that. Temptations will still come; to be tempted doesn’t mean you are sinning. Jesus was tempted; He just never gave in to temptations (Heb 4:15). The “passions and desires” that seem to be alive may just be temptations. If Jesus broke the bondage, rely on His ability to get you past the temptations. Jesus understands what you are going through (Heb 4:15). And this explanation helps us in discerning being Spirit-led and led by our lusts and pride.

We may know what we need to do in our lives and what to avoid, but our will alone is not going to get us through. Relying on our will alone is being pride-led. Giving it over to Jesus to get us through is being Spirit-led. Recognizing temptation and relying on the only Warrior who has faced temptation unscathed is where walking in the Spirit comes in. Look at verses 25 and 26 – both of these bring up a difference of walking in the Spirit and living by pride.

Use verses 19-23 to look at your life. Where do you fall in the two lists? If you have something in the first list, give it up to Jesus and adopt something from the second list to live by.