Live By The Spirit

LIVE BY THE SPIRIT, AND YOU WILL NOT GRATIFY THE DESIRES OF THE SINFUL NATURE. Galatians 5.16.

Have you tried to get rid of bad habits in your life? I have done so at various stages in my life, often with little success. You and I have ‘pet sins’ that we indulge in and that are hard to overcome. They differ from stage to stage in one’s life and from person to person. But the Word of God tells us “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles/besets us” (Heb 12.1).

Have you ever felt like the apostle Paul during his early converted life? How he struggled with sin on the one side and the desire to obey the law on the other! Dear friend, if you are genuinely struggling with some sin or sinful habit, read Romans 7 and you will find company. The good company of Paul. Follow him and he will tell you all about how to shake off your besetting sins.

The problem with us is that we do not consider sin as SIN and call it SIN. But Paul did. He did not call it a ‘bad habit’ and try to excuse it. That is the first lesson Paul shares with us. Whatever is that sin against God that you have been calling by some innocent name – ‘habit’, forget it! From now on call it a sin against God!

The next thing Paul shares with you and I is, ‘stop struggling with that sin by yourself!’ That is what you have been doing. You can’t win! You have been losing all this while. How many times have you said, ‘I do not want to do it again! I will stop doing it!’ But you go on doing it, only to feel sad and angry at yourself. Paul knew it all when he cried out, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7.24,25).

Jesus Christ gives you victory over your besetting, entangling sin! But Paul says, “live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature”. How do you live by the Spirit of God? Keep in step with the Holy Spirit! (vs. 16,24). That’s it! How do you keep in step with the Spirit? Read God’s Word everyday. Take time to pray. Tell the Holy Spirit you want to walk in step with Him. Do only what the Holy Spirit will do. Go only where the Holy Spirit will go. He won’t take you to the places of your ‘temptation’. The Holy Spirit will always alert you and tell you what is right, the moment you face any temptation. If you do not listen to His still small voice and try to argue and justify the situation, you are in deep trouble. Quickly respond to the promptings of the spirit. If you are thus careful to walk with the Spirit, not only will you not repeat your sin but the sin will leave you!

Pray and practise with me: Dear Lord, help me to be careful to keep in step with Your Holy Spirit everyday. Thank You Father for the victory through Jesus Christ. Amen.