DaySpring Daily Word of Inspiration: Galatians 5:16-17 – So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.
Have you ever been at that point where you’re getting ready to do something you know you aren’t supposed to do? There is this feeling; a tugging, an uneasy sense about the situation? Well there is a good reason for that. It is the spirit of discernment, the knowledge of right and wrong; for those of us who call ourselves Christians, it is the Holy Spirit.
Do you ever wonder, “why do I do the stuff that I know I shouldn’t be doing?” or “why can’t I stop this bad habit or that bad habit?” Unfortunately, it is called a sin nature. This is a nature that we have all been born with. Don’t believe me…. Answer this question then, Who teaches a baby (or young child for that matter) to lie? I’ll wait…….. The answer is NO ONE! A child inherently knows how to lie without being taught or shown an example because it is already in them at birth! (I won’t go into the history of it but for your reference check out Romans 5:8.)
Since we’re born with a corrupted body and the very breathe of God that is our spirit, we are always in natural conflict with ourselves every day of our lives. Life is hard and God knows that, this is specifically why he gave us His word that we may walk in ways that lead to less stress, struggle, heartache and downfall. The problem is us; our flesh. It continues to want us to go against that very spirit of God which is trying to teach us to be and do better.
So how do we get better? How do we overcome ourselves? The first step is surrender. We must recognize that we are helpless, hopeless and powerless without God, His word and godly people in our lives holding us accountable are the tools that will help us learn to live as He has deemed. Second, we have to deny our natural urges to do what is wrong in God eyes and build up convictions that will help us to not easily go back to our past ways. Thirdly, we need to grow in our knowledge of God’s word so we can carry out the specific desires God would have us to do. Lastly, with all this in hand, we can walk (live) by the spirit of TRUTH. After being fortified, encouraged and spurred on by others – we walk in the knowledge of how God wants; we walk in the light of perfection, which is Jesus Christ. Now, that’s not to say you will be perfect by any means, however, it suggests that you should be getting better in areas where you’ve failed before and people shouldn’t readily be able to point out your nastiness or say things like “you haven’t changed”.
What is your battle today? We are praying that our daily battle with our flesh doesn’t win over our dedication to the Spirit and what it is telling us to do. We know life is tough but it can be more than tolerable if we allow the Spirit to lead us vs ourselves. For those who want to experience church in a new and refreshing way, we’re happy to have you at our service Sunday morning at 11 am. Be safe and fight your natural urges this weekend. Let’s put God 1st! Have a great day, in Jesus’ name, AMEN!