Key scripture – “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please.”(Galations 5:16-17).

Do you feel the conflict in your life between your flesh, which is your sinful nature, and the Holy Spirit?

God’s Holy Spirit and your sinful nature “are in opposition to one another”, and this causes conflict within you. You’re used to following your sinful, fallen human nature, however, God’s in the process of restoring your fallenness, and renewing His image in you.

God’s renewal of you is nowhere near finished yet. So He’s put His Holy Spirit within you to enable you to live in a way that honors Him, and you can choose to live “by the Spirit” or by your flèsh.

God tells us in His Word what it means to live by the flesh in Galatians 5:19-2, which says,

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (ESV).

When you live by the Spirit you will see the fruits of the Spirit in your life,

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:22-26).

Living by the Spirit means being responsive to God’s initiatives in your life. When He convicts you to stop doing what you are doing, you stop. When He puts it on your heart to pray for someone, you pray for them. When He speaks to you from His Word, you follow His lead. Then His power will flow in your life.

The way to keep your relationship with the Holy Spirit healthy is to spend time in God’s Word and pray. If you do that you’ll find godliness to be the natural outflow of your life!

God’s inviting you to live a new way today—“by the Spirit”.

Stop and reflect on your life, are you living by the flesh or by the Spirit? The way you can tell is by the fruit that you are producing.

Pray this – Our Precious Heavenly Father, Jesus told us that we would not be left alone but that The Holy Spirit would come and He will teach me all things and bring to my remembrance all that Your Word says.(John 14:26). I thank You for the Holy Spirit, who is my Helper and Counselor, who teaches me and leads me in paths of righteousness. He is the Spirit of Truth. I thank You that the Third Person of the Trinity lives in me, and that He strengthens me, and gives me power. Father, I want to live by the Spirit. I want godliness to be the natural outflow of my life. Jesus told us that we would be recognized by our fruits and that a healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit and a diseased tree cannot bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:17-20). Let my fruit be pleasing to You and bring forth glory, honor and praise to You. In the Name of Jesus, I pray, Amen.