Over the last couple of days, I wrote that the why of God’s goal for us is to glorify Him, while the what of His goal is to be freed to be driven by love. In this last posting on goal, I come to the how: walking by the Spirit.
Gal. 5:16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.
5:18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.
5:25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step Spirit.
According to Galatians 5:17, there will be conflict, but gradual freedom from self is possible through the Spirit. “Not under law” in this context means not by your own resources. If you make self-discipline your primary goal, you will fail. Self control is a fruit of the Spirit, not a cause of spiritual growth. So if you focus on walking by the Spirit, you will gain more discipline as a result.
What is walking by the Spirit? Letting the Spirit of God remind you and direct us. The Spirit of Christ is zealous to remind you of who God is and who you are—an adopted child of God! In Romans 8:16, Paul says the Spirit testifies of that reality to your heart. That, and glorifying Jesus Christ (John 16:13,14) is His full time job! When you “keep in step with the Spirit,” you sense His promptings to turn from sinful attitudes and toward closeness to God initiatives of love to other people.
If you are like me, you have sometimes tried to live as if ‘walking by the spirit" was the ultimate goal—which I defined as trying to follow a bunch of disciplines without a why or what.
How about making your goal for the coming year been to be liberated to love by god’s grace for His glory? If you are like me, this is the first year I thought about this way. Like me, you may need to reboot and make some adjustments—in the why, or what or how—perhaps all.
Do this with a friend and you two will be better friends!
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