Can I Walk and Win Over Sin?
So I
say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16 (NIV)
In the movie Godfather III aging mafia
chief Don Michael Corleone seeks to disentangle his family from its life of
crime and remove them from the violent criminal underworld. Despite his best
efforts however the rising generation of mafia criminals keep pulling him back
into this underworld. Exasperated by it all, at one point in the movie Don
Corleone lets out the anguished cry: “Just when I thought I was out, they pull
me back in!”
Do you find that you are constantly
struggling with sin? You go to church, you read your Bible, and you pray, but
temptation still gets the better of you. Will I ever have victory over this in
my life? Every Christian is constantly confronted with temptation throughout
their lifetime, and one source of that temptation comes from the enemy that lives
within us: our very own flesh. The flesh (as used above in Galatians 5:16) is
that place within our hearts that seeks to find fulfillment in anything or
anyone other than God. The Spirit, on the other hand, is that ever-present part
of God’s Holy Spirit that dwells within every believer, constantly pushing him
or her to seek fulfillment only in God. These two forces push and pull against
each other, causing a constant conflict. Although many people find themselves caught in the middle of this
conflict, feeling like helpless victims of their own desires, we can break free
and experience consistent victory over the flesh.
What, then, is Paul’s solution for this
struggle against the flesh? He said, “Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not
fulfill the lust of the flesh” Walking in the Spirit is not a matter of
fighting the flesh; rather, walking in the spirit is a matter of submitting to
the Spirit. This does not mean you are standing up against the flesh; you are
simply bowing to the Spirit. The difference is subtle, but significant. When we
focus on the flesh, we are more likely to lose to the flesh. When we focus on
the things of the Spirit, we enable ourselves to walk in the Spirit. This is a
one-step-at-a-time process. That is why walking serves as the best illustration
of the progression. In walking, you do not receive an instant victory over sin.
This is no quick solution. Long-term commitment is necessary to move in a godly
direction.
Walking in the spirit means to daily focus
on the attributes of a living a Spirit-filled life, which includes showing
love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness,
and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).
The degree to which we walk in the Spirit
will determine the degree to which we rise above the flesh. No one can live the
Christian life the way God wants us to, apart from the help of the Holy Spirit.
So let us allow the fruit of the Spirit to fill our life, and we will not only
walk in the Spirit, but we will have victory through the Spirit.
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