Friday, September 22, 2023

For the past few days, we have been looking at the way of the flesh and the way of the Spirit. The apostle Paul spells things out pretty clearly: 

• Follow the desires of your sinful nature, and you will not inherit the Kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21). 
• Live in tune with the Holy Spirit, and your life will produce fruit in keeping with the Kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:22). 

After reading these verses, I find myself moving on to Chapter 6. I’m not sure I have ever paid much attention to what follows:

Galatians 5:24-25
²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. ²⁵ Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. 

What does this mean—to nail the passions and desires of my sinful nature to the cross of Christ and to crucify them there? The only crucifixion I have ever seen was depicted in the movie, The Passion of the Christ, and honestly, for me it’s just too horrific to even watch in its entirety. It also breaks my heart knowing that it was my sin that nailed Jesus to that cross. So as I read these verses now, I picture the violence with which I must deal with the passions and desires of my sin nature. Paul was not messing around—it must be dealt with in a way that puts it to death. 

So I made a list of rules to follow that will keep me from sinning. That’s what the Israelites did… but wait… that didn’t work for them. And God gave them those rules! The Message Bible describes it this way:

Galatians 5:23-24 MSG
Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified (emphasis added).

Everything connected to getting my own way—crucified? Well, that sure is a place to start for me! I don’t always get it right, but Paul says that:

Galatians 5:25-26 MSG
Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. 

To move this idea of living the life of the Spirit from a thought in my head … to a belief of my heart … to an expression of that belief in the things I say and do requires a power greater than I possess. Every day, I must submit myself to the Holy Spirit. Every day, I must commit to letting him guide me through every detail of every thing that comes my way. I must be willing to let him lead me into his way, not mine. And I must not compare how that looks to anyone else but Jesus. 

Questions: 
Have you ever asked the Holy Spirit for guidance when facing a problem? Where could you ask him for help today? 

Next Steps: 
Create a space in which you can ask and then listen for the Holy Spirit to guide you as you move through your day. Make a note of your requests in your journal or calendar. Look back to see how he answered.

Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank you for sending your Holy Spirit to guide and direct me. Help me to create space to listen for his wisdom and goodness as I move through my day today. Help me put to death my sin nature and live only for you. Sin is not my master—you are! Sin is not my story—you are! Help me to remember everything you have spoken to me. In your beautiful name I pray, amen.

Series Theme Verse:
John 14:26
“But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

This post was written by Lauri White, a regular contributor to the LivingItOut Devotional.