But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. GALATIANS 5:16
I don't know about you but when i first started following God, I assumed I would instantly be a completely changed person, that I would automatically desire the things of God, that I would walk according to the Spirit and not the ways of the world. Granted, I was changed—eternally changed. But being changed and saved doesn’t mean we won’t still struggle with fleshly desires. They are part of this broken world.
So if you’re an angry person, or struggle with lustful thoughts, or spend all your time being jealous of people who have nicer things than you, there’s a good chance all of those things didn’t turn off immediately after you were saved. We still live in this world, surrounded by worldly desires—constant reminders of our brokenness.
In Galatians 5:22–23, Paul told us that there is another way to live, a much more fruitful way to live. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.”
I read a list like that and think, I pick that. That’s who I want to be.
You can choose that too. You can become that kind of person. You can go from being the angriest person alive to being the gentlest. You can go from being lust-filled to being self-controlled. You can go from being the most stressed out to being the absolute model of peace.
When we declare that Jesus is Lord of our lives, we are forgiven of all that we used to be and are invited to become something new. Paul wrote, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me” (Galatians 2:20). When we’re “in Christ,” Christ lives in us. And by the power of His Spirit, He starts living through us too.
We need this news, don’t we? While we can sit here all day long trying to justify our sin, we’re still absolutely guilty of sin.
I couldn’t love my wife more than I do. She has the purest heart, she is wise and kind, she is both loving and lovable, and she’s a great doubles partner on the tennis court. She’s amazing. And yet even Sadie Robertson Huff has sinned.
We’ve all been tried, and we’ve all been found guilty—which is precisely what makes the good news of the gospel so good. The question isn’t whether we’ve fallen short of God’s standard of perfection; we have. But what do we do about our sin problem?
The forgiveness of God is our only hope. And once we commit ourselves to Jesus and long to “walk by the Spirit,” as Paul said, we no longer have to gratify those fleshly desires like fits of rage, chronic envy, sexual immorality, or drunken nights.
All of it is forgiven by Jesus. All of it can be washed away. And the ripple effect of walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh will leave every single person who knows and loves you shaking their heads in disbelief at the miracle of God’s forgiveness and the Spirit’s work in your life.
Put Love First
