Walk in the Spirit
“Walk in the
Spirit” is a pretty typical Christian phrase, but what does it actually
mean? How do you practically do this? _____________________________________________________________________
The promise of
freedom from bondage to sin is bound up with the call to have our lives in
Christ and His life in us. There is no
magical phrase or prayer that changes who we are, but there is a very real
experience that begins the moment we receive His gift and commit to walk with
God. Sometimes, in having hoped for a
total and immediate deliverance from the flesh, people become disillusioned
with their faith, believing it to be ineffective. But is a human life deemed ineffective simply
because at its initial point of beginning it is quite dependent and
ill-equipped to be productive? Of course
not! That life is valued in part, for
the potential it carries. We too, as new
creations in Christ Jesus are full of incredible potential that can and will be
realized only as we continue to learn and grow and walk with the Spirit of God.
The more we walk in
the Spirit of God, the less we are inclined to seek the fulfillment of
“self”. Likewise, the more we seek the
mind of Christ, the less we will be motivated by our own will and
ambitions. What replaces that will and ambition of ours? __________________________________________________
Something that I
find interesting in these verses is the contrast that is set up:
“walk”èmake
progress versus “lust”èwant badly
by the Spiritèin God’s
power versus of the fleshèof my own power
And there is the tension
between the flesh which “lusts” against the Spirit and the Spirit against the
flesh. What do you think that means? __________________________________________________________________
I believe this has
to do with desires and yearnings. The
Spirit of God yearns for my fellowship and unity with God. My flesh on the other hand, yearns for more
immediate, tangible, temporary “feel goods” (–and sometimes even the ‘not-feel-goods’,
like self-condemnation and regret). Unfortunately,
I sometimes fall for the here-and-now experience rather than thinking the thoughts,doing the things, embracing the love that God has displayed and wants
communicated in and through me. This
creates a sort of battle zone within.
And this is why it is so very important to continually come back to
grace and truth. I am forgiven, I am free from the
law of my flesh and my self-justification (or condemnation) as well as the
“law” of my self-satisfaction.
As I learn to be
led by the Spirit, l also learn to love in thought, in word, and in actions,
not because I am compelled by law, but because I am choosing to give the Spirit
freedom to love well through me.
Read
and Pray: I
Corinthians 2:9-12, Romans 6:14, 8:5-6, Psalm 50:23
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