“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16 NASB1995
I think sometimes as Christians, we get stuck in a mindset of sin-management. We know the things that we should not do. So we set about trying not to do them. We get into the mindset of knowing we ought not to sin, so we go about trying not to sin. And instead of having victory, it seems that our struggle with sin just gets worse. But what if I told you that it didn’t have to be this way?
When someone tells you not to think about the pink elephant in the room, what happens? Immediately, at least for a second, you’ve thought of the pink elephant. The instruction not to think on something immediately brought that thing to mind. It’s easy to become fixated on NOT thinking about that pink guy. But man is it hard to put it out of mind, and we end up thinking about pinky all the more. And whatever we focus on, magnifies in our mind. The very thing we are trying to avoid, becomes the very thing that consumes our thinking.
When Paul writes in Galatians about walking by the Spirit, he is trying to get us to change our thinking. And changing our thinking will change our living. You may already have an understanding of what it means to “walk by the Spirit,” but even so, I invite you to read on. Let’s see if we agree. If you think I’m wrong, You can tell me about it in the comments if you like. 😉
If you’ve ever read this verse, scratched your head and wondered, “what DOES it mean to walk by the Spirit?” Then you DEFINITELY want to read on!
Let’s get back to what Paul says,
“I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh.” Galatians 5:16 CSB
In this passage, Paul is addressing the fact that we are free in Christ. We don’t have to obey sin again because we have been set free! In Romans he says that we are, “slaves to the one you obey” (Romans 6:16). He’s saying that as Christians, we have a CHOICE about what fills our hearts and minds. You have a choice about who you are day to day. You have a choice whether you want to submit to the enemy or to the King. We are formed by our thoughts. Our actions are shaped by what we think. They reveal what we really think about – sometimes to our own chagrin.
If we’ve been set free, why become slaves again? He emphasizes this point by showing us a new way to live. He says, “walk by the Spirit.”
We walk by the Spirit when we:
Live in a posture of surrender to the Lord Jesus
Live in a posture of abiding in the presence of the Lord Jesus
Live in a posture of receiving from the Lord Jesus
First, a quick note on ‘Lordship’ – ‘Lord’ is a title. According to the Google Dictionary, ‘lord’ means someone who has, “supreme power or rule.” If someone’s title is “Lord” it means they are in charge and they get to call the shots. Jesus is Lord of all the earth. He is Lord and reigns supreme.
That’s the gist of the first point – living in a posture of surrender and yielding to the Lordship of Jesus. It means he’s in charge and we yield to Him. If he says something and we don’t like it, tough luck for us, he’s in charge because he is Lord. So we get the opportunity to submit to him. We all made this choice at salvation, but did you know that choosing to submit to the Lord is a daily choice? This is what it means to walk in step with the Spirit.
When we feel prompted to wake up early and spend time in the secret place with Jesus, we get to choose to how to respond. We can yield, wake up early, and spend time with Jesus, or we can go back to sleep. When we submit to the prompting and get up to seek his face, then we are submitting to his Lordship in this area. Early mornings may be hard for you, they are hard for me. But I have never regretted getting up early and spending time seeking Jesus. What I always regret is sleeping in and missing out on the time I could have spent with him. This regret is not out of shame, but out of a sadness that I missed an opportunity to be with the Lover of my soul. This change of perspective helps me to wake up even when I don’t really “feel” like it.
Secondly, walking by the Spirit requires us to live in a posture of abiding in the presence of Jesus. In John 15, Jesus talks to his disciples about abiding with him. So, what does it mean to abide? According to Miriam Webster’s Dictionary; ‘abide’ means, “to remain, sojourn, tarry, not to depart.” We are invited to remain and sojourn in the presence of the Lord.
In John 15, Jesus tells the disciples that apart from him, they can’t accomplish anything! This also means that whatever is accomplished outside of Jesus is not worth what we think it is. Jesus invited the disciples and ultimately us, into a place of deep intimacy with himself. But deep intimacy isn’t reached overnight or quickly. It takes intentionality and consistency over time to build a deep connection with Jesus.
Just as in human friendship it takes time to develop a sense of depth and closeness, friendship with Jesus also takes intentional attention. Yielding to the invitation to abide puts you in the right posture to learn the heart of Jesus. And when you know the heart of Jesus, you will walk by the Spirit, because that’s what he did!
Finally, live in a posture of receiving from the Lord Jesus. Any fulfilling relationship consists of giving and receiving. And our relationship with Jesus is no different. What if I met with you for coffee every week and we spent two hours together. But within that time, I only talked about myself, and didn’t asked you any questions or listen to what you had to say. Would you consider my actions to be helpful in developing a deep friendship between us? It’s true that Jesus loves to hear from us about our days, cares, and concerns (1 Peter 5:7), but he also loves when we listen to him. He longs to give us good things. “No good thing does he withhold from him who walks uprightly.” (Ps 84:110) & “open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.” (Ps 81:10)
Jesus has more in store for you than you could even imagine! But you won’t ever get it if you don’t learn how to receive it. You must learn to have a posture of receiving in your heart so that you can receive the good that He has for you. This posture is only possible through yielding. You must yield over and over again to the promptings of the Holy Spirit.
Walking by the Spirit is a daily choice, it’s a moment by moment interaction. The Holy Spirit is not some disembodied force that we can only feel in church or when we pray. He is a living and active person. He is the third person of the Trinity, and he wants to be your very best friend. He wants to lead you on the paths of righteousness and show you great and marvelous things which you do not know. (Ps 23:3 & Jer 33:3) He loves you! And he desires for you to walk in step with him. When you do, you will step out of sin management and step into Holy Spirit sensitivity.
Over time your senses will be trained to discern the Holy Spirit. You’ll learn to discern what pleases him and what grieves him. When you’re walking with the Spirit, then you will have your eyes focused on him. When you focus on Jesus and surrender, abide, and receive, it’s much harder to let sin rule over you.
So instead of working hard not to think about the pink elephant in the room, why not just give him an eviction notice?
“For freedom, Christ set us free. Stand firm, then, and don’t submit again to a yoke of slavery.” Galatians 5:1
Sarah Louise 