BY GREG CRUM
“This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.” Galatians 5:16-17
There is a battle raging on this earth, and the front lines are not found along some rocky crag in a land far away; rather they are located in the minds of believers set to live a holy life.
Of course, if you’ve been on this walk for any length of time, I’m not telling you anything new, am I? You’ve felt the heat of temptation, the real moments of truth in our lives when we have to decide if we are going to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit through our spirits, or listen to the cravings of our carnal nature.
Hopefully you’ve won most of those battles. Just know for any that you’ve lost that there is forgiveness for the humble soul that desires to do right. There is grace to do better the next time for those whose ambition it is to “walk in the spirit” in this life.
Last week we wrote how, as believers in Christ, we are always going to be better off when our spirits are allowed to be at the forefront—allowed to lead, to rule, to be in charge of our minds and bodies. This “spirit-mindedness” that leads to our best life is talked about in Romans 8:5-8, and is the “walk in the Spirit” that Galatians charges us to live. Seems simple enough, right? Let the “real” us make the decisions as we listen to the Spirit of God inside of us, and all will be well.
Unfortunately, the simple gets complicated by the often-opposing forces inside of us—our own minds and fleshly desires. It’s the aforementioned battle in our soul, a battle that we will be forced to engage in until the Lord comes back for us, or we go by the way of the grave. Pretty somber, I know, but there is some great news in the matter. We are equipped to win these battles, and Jesus has already won the war for us! We have the “Greater One” living inside of us, and “Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.” (I John 4:4)
So, we are built to overcome any opposition that we may face in this life because of the Holy Spirit that abides in us. Why then do we have so many instances of defeat in our lives when it comes to the struggle between flesh and spirit? One big reason is because we are failing to do our part. We are living our lives constantly feeding the opposition. We strengthen the resolve of our minds and bodies, and give them all the ammunition they need to win the battle. How? By listening to them, deciding in their favor at most every opportunity, and in doing so, allowing our unrenewed minds and carnal nature to grow stronger and stronger.
Brothers and sisters, if we are ever going to “walk in the Spirit” and “not fulfil the lust of the flesh,” we are going to have to learn to unarm the enemy—we are going to have to get good at just saying “No” to our flesh. Yeah, that slogan from the government-sponsored anti-drug campaign of the ‘80s fits just fine right here! By just saying “No” to those parts inside of us that want to rebel against the guidance of God, and acting in accordance with that “No,” we can strip those rebels of their power and return that authority back to its rightful place, our spirits. What’s more, if we consistently de-power our flesh, we will empower our spirits, and our “Nos” get easier to enforce!
Friends, the spirit-led life is the life we were all designed to live. It’s our best life, but one that requires our determination to rule our “insides” according to God’s directives.
Greg Crum is the pastor of Calvary Temple in Lovely.