Failing at the feet of Jesus replaces any sense of failure and rising from his feet daily empowers me to live a life committed to the Fruits of the Spirit and a life of purpose and impact.
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.” Galatians 5:16-26 NLT
Every Believer friend that I know loves Galatians 5:22-23, the verse that outlines the fruits of the Spirit. A beautiful, assuring and empowering verse of truth and hope. We need it! The battle rages for our minds after the war for our souls is lost and this verse provides a measurable outline for how we are doing. Do you love? Does joy emanate through you? Is patience a characteristic that guides your daily walk? Are you inherently kind? Are you good, even in the face of bad? Does your faith guide and guard your heart? Do others see a gentleness in and through you? Are you self-controlled in how we approach life on a daily basis? I pose these questions directly to you because the relationship with Jesus is deeply personal and singular. You and Him. There is no relationship through osmosis or association.
Paul also provides us measurement to examine where our heart and soul lies earlier in Galatians 5 when he outlines the mental state and life actions that occur when we follow our sinful nature, versus a Spirit-led life. I grew up in a religion that believed “once saved, always saved,” and I do believe this is absolutely true. Equally, I personally had to come to the recognition that within this truth of absolute salvation through the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, we are made new and our lives must reflect what Galatians 5:22-23 outlines as Spirit-filled lives.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” 2 Corinthians 5:17
My encouragement to you today is to honestly and deeply examine your life. Am I living a Spirit filled and led life? Do my daily actions stand out from a World led by sinful nature? Am I fully surrendered to a life of purpose whose objective is to build God’s Kingdom one soul at a time by being a source of light and hope in a broken World?
I had to come to the correct recognition that I was not truly saved because my actions and my life did not reflect what scripture teaches is a Spirit led life. What I had been faithfully and correctly taught as a child gave me a sense of having a “Get Out of Sin Free” card, which does not exist. My freedom from sin came at the highest price measurable. The blood of the Son of the Most High God. My freedom from sin was freely given through the Grace and Mercy of a benevolent God who loved me despite who I was and because of who I became in him through the complete surrender of my life to Him. In Him! The old became new and new man, supernaturally born, emerged.
The realization that I was only who I was because I chose to live in him and through a Spirit-filled life, correctly positioned my thinking and my living. That I could no longer allow my life to be dictated or influenced by sinful nature because I had laid my sinful nature at the feet of Christ, upon which it was destroyed. My old self had died, my new life was not my own but a life fully surrendered to the only One who matters. My desire today is to no longer sin, which I fail at daily.
My friend, be sure. Be absolutely sure. Measure yourself and hold yourself accountable. Are you certain beyond certain and do your actions and approach to life reflect a Spirit-led life of imperfect pursuit of perfect purpose? There are no do-overs when this life is done. Heaven is real and Hell is real. The choice is forever and the consequences immeasurably beautiful or eternally tragic. The mirror never lies. What does yours reflect?
You’ve got this.