Living in the Spirit

For a long time I have professed to the goal of living a life that glorifies God. I think it sounded like a pretty good goal for a Christian woman to have, but I was not at all diligent in discovering exactly what glorifies God and doing only those things.



I have had many detours in my Christian walk, but the Lord has always brought me back to Himself. I can safely say that the times I strayed for any length of time had to do with dealing with the shame of sin in my life and giving in to the adversary’s attempt to cause me to take myself out and give up completely on trying to live a righteous life. My life became so much sweeter when I came to the realization that I did not need to ‘get it right’ before God would love me. All I needed was to do is to confess my sin with a contrite heart, and He will always forgive me.



Yesterday, I was led to read the fifth chapter of Galatians and I was convicted anew. In Galatians, Paul is contrasting religious legalism with freedom in Christ. In verse 16 Paul writes, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” (NIV) I like how the New King James version puts it right out there in more graphic and accessible terms, “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” The NIV continues, “For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit, and the spirit is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” If you are looking for black and white right and wrong contrasts, there it is. If you are going to live by the Spirit, you cannot embrace a sinful nature.



Because I can be rebellious and prideful and a little too confident in my own strength, I have on occasion found myself flirting with temptation. I tell myself that I can handle my business, but we are talking about the battle between our native, fallen nature, our carnal pleasure-seeking selves against the power of light and love and purity. These forces are, as the Apostle Paul says, “in conflict with each other.” Why do I want to step into the center of a battle poorly equipped? I have found that it is foolishness to put myself in a situation where I will be forced to use my own feeble will power to resist temptation. Both the Jabez prayer in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, and the Lord’s prayer in Matthew 6:5-13 both ask the Lord to keep us from evil. Rather than ask the Lord to help us to handle temptation, it makes more sense to never end up in the place of temptation in the first place.



It is my prayer that I would walk in the Spirit every moment keeping my eyes on the Lord and allowing Him to order my steps and guide my feet. I also know that I will fail regularly, but I will not get down on myself because my God is gracious and full of mercy. I am on a spiritual journey and each day I face obstacles in both the physical and spiritual realms, but the Lord is with me and He will not let me fall. Living a life that glorifies God is seldom accompanied by harp music and soft glowing light. The adversary fervently desires to thwart every effort and set me back after every victory, but thanks be to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who has already fought and won every battle for us. It only remains for us to be faithful and obedient to His word.

Evelyn Beatrice Bourne