I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:16-26
One of the hardest struggles of the Christian faith is to live our lives daily like Christ. We are called at the beginning of this text to walk in the Spirit and not in our own flesh. This reminds me of when Christ said He only speaks what the Father speaks (John 12:49). We can look at these works of the flesh and think, “Well I’m not going to do that… I’m not going to murder someone. I’m not going to commit adultery. I’m no sorcerer…” However, when we allow our mind to be driven by our flesh, and not the Spirit, we are giving ourselves over to these evil works.
We can try our hardest to justify a few evil works because we are still pursuing the Spirit at specific times in our lives. This is a lie. You cannot walk in the Spirit and in the flesh. Light and darkness can not coexist. We are called to be like Christ. All of these fruits of the Spirit are Christ’s character traits.
Holy Spirit, infiltrate our minds today with Your presence. Shine a light in the dark corners that need to be brought into correction. May your bride, each individual member, turn away from our flesh today and chase after You.