May 1 - Galatians 5:16

Live by the Spirit, I say,

and do not gratify

the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16

Yesterday in talking about the Fruit of the Spirit, we hinted that Paul contrasted these spiritual fruits with the desires of the flesh.

Let me put this another way … We are at war!

And who are we fighting? Ourselves.

God created and everything was good. Therefore, our flesh – in and of itself – is not bad. However, ever since sin entered the world, we are living in “bodies of death.” That’s how Paul referred to his life in this broken flesh …

I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate … Nothing good dwells within me, that is, in my flesh. I can will what is right, but I cannot do it. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. … Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? (Rom 7:15,18,19,24)

Is that you too? You’re at war … within yourself.

Yesterday, I listed “the works of flesh” according to the NRSV translation. Listen to them today according the New Living translation:

sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin. (Gal 5:19-21)

Paul says, “17 what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh.”

It’s a tug of war. If the Spirit is in us, it should win, right? Yes … except that our radiators leak. We quench the Spirit, as it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:19. As what should we do?

• First, we should pray, “More, Lord. More,” asking for more of the Spirit!

• Second, we should use our actions as a temperature gauge. When we exhibit more flesh than fruit, more quarreling than peace, more envy than love, and more selfishness than generosity, that ought to be a warning light. It’s time to recalibrate, devoting ourselves more fully to Christ.

In Christ’s Love,

a guy who has to recalibrate

forty-eight times a day --

(at least three major times

every waking hour)