How to Walk in Spirit (Part 1)

Perhaps one of the most often asked questions in the Christian life is, "Why is it taking so long for me to get better?" We ask it so often perhaps because we fail to remember that God never hurries in His development of our Christian life. Maybe you are asking and wondering why you are still struggling with losing your temper. Maybe you are asking why old habits are so long in hanging around. Are you saying, "I thought by now I would be a better person but I am not. Why is it taking so long?" That is the question many of us would like an answer to.

I hope that these next few articles can help you come to a little better understanding of the struggle we all face. To get started I want us to consider first of all the control of the Spirit. In Galatians 5:16 Paul says, "This I say then, walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh." In plain English he is saying that we need to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. All of our lives, attitudes, thoughts, actions are to be under the Holy Spirit's control. We are to walk in the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a person and He is to control my life. Now, this verse in Galatians 5 is a command. We are to walk in the Spirit. I am to decide to walk. Someone has said this: "The Lord has voted for me, the devil has voted against me, whichever way I vote, so goes the election." When we decide and then choose, by trusting and yielding, to walk in the Spirit we are casting our vote in the right way. The way of deliverance is to walk in the Spirit. God has given to each of us a spiritual dynamic to live a victorious life. His name is the Holy Spirit. And further more we are to be controlled continuously. This verb "walk" is in the present tense. That is we are to keep on walking in the Spirit. It is in the imperative mood which means it is not an option but a command. We are commanded to walk in the Spirit.

The only problem with that is that we have a conflict within us that many times prevents us from walking in the Spirit. And we will look more closely at that conflict next week but until then remember that God loves you and so does First Baptist Church.