Life by the Spirit
Life by the Spirit
16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Tommy's Thoughts:
The Bible is very clear and specific on certain actions, attitudes and desires that are wrong. Some are quite obvious like the sin of sexual immorality, witchcraft and murder. But there are also those that are less obvious; that sometime we are unaware of or simply ignore and pay little attention to them.
These are the things that rob us from living a transformed life God wants us to have. We will soon find our self having unnecessary conflict with others; feeling trap and helpless in bondages; puzzling over why and how things went wrong and questioning why we do not do what we want, but do the very thing we hate (Romans 7:15). If we continually use our freedom this way, we will not inherit God's kingdom (v21).
The good news is, we can clearly distinguish and reminded of all these wrongful desires whenever we turn to the fruits of the Spirit (v22). They are in stark contrast and contrary to each others (v16); giving us an invaluable guidance and comparison before we think, act and making choices.
Before we can grow in the fruits of the Spirits and stop giving in to wrongful desires and habits, we must allow God to work in us, joining our lives to His (John 15:4-5). When we say we believe and accept Christ as our Savior and Redeemer, we need to make the choice to willingly nail all our sinful nature to the Cross. Through this we are clearly set free from sin’s power gripping over us and we no longer have to give in to it.
Dear Lord, thank You for teaching me to effectively replace my old bad habits with the habits of the Spirit. Thank You for the Spirit who nudges me everyday to commit any wrongful tendencies to Your control, crucifying them, and continually draw on the Spirit’s power to overcome them. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.
Bee's Thoughts:
Our "sinful nature" is constantly battling with the "fruit of the Spirit". instead of trying to remove the "sinful nature" we should focus on the "fruit of the Spirit"... constantly allowing this fruit to be seen in our life.
"Self-control" may be the most difficult characteristics to achieve. We are to control our own thoughts, actions and desires. We are not to indulge ourselves on anything contrary to biblical teaching. So "self-control" is the mark of spiritual maturity I guess.
Dear Lord,
Help me to allow Your Spirit to work in me so that I may bear the fruit of the Spirit. Let me set my mind on things that are pure and do what's right in Your sight. In Jesus name I ask. Amen
.......the devotion of Bee & Tommy
