By the Spirit

I sat down for the umpteenth Sunday service. Same row. Same struggle. Same insecurity. Never perfect enough or perhaps just never enough. I was exhausted by the hamster wheel of performance and anticipated leaving church just like I’d come in. Until So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. “Did I hear that right?” I quickly turned my Bible’s pages to Galatians 5:16. “Aha!” I had read this verse beginning to end many times. But all this time, the way I lived it out was backward. All. This. Time. I had been living as though Paul’s letter to the Galatian church implored, But I say, do not gratify the desires of the flesh, and then you can say you walk by the Spirit. Catch the difference? It’s a big one. I looked around to see if anyone else was ready to start a dance party. The truth was suddenly clear: I didn’t have to run faster. I could stop running! I didn’t have to hide. I knew God was inviting me off my hamster wheel and out of my cage too. Let me explain. For years, I walked with Christ (by the Spirit) like this Work really hard. Do better than others. Then you will be named valedictorian. Work really hard. Do better than others. Then you will get the Job Work really hard. Do better than others. Then you will win the scholarship. Give and get. Work and receive. But Galatians 5:16 says the only power to overcome these insecurities and misplaced identities comes from Jesus Christ’s Spirit. It’s His power. We cannot catch it, claim it, or contain it apart from the work of Christ. If you’ve put your trust in Jesus, the Spirit of Jesus lives inside you. So I say, walk by the Spirit. You don’t need to prove yourself. Because Jesus died on the cross and rose from the grave for you, you are counted worthy in God’s sight. You are named Child of God. You already got the Job You already won. Kelly Carlson Do you ever find yourself trying to power through a struggle in order to earn or prove your worth? God loves you so much, it was worth it to Him to go to the cross for you. In Christ, you’ve already received God’s acceptance (Romans 15:7; 1 John 4:19). Read Galatians 5:13-26. What are the acts of the flesh? What are the fruits of the Spirit? Why is it important that the only way we can resist the acts of the fleshand instead produce the fruits of the Spiritis by the Spirit’s power? So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 (NIV) Read Verses: Matthew 11:25-Matthew 11:30; Galatians 5:13-Galatians 5:26; Zechariah 4:6

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