For we are his
workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared
beforehand, that we should walk in them.
Ephesians 2:20
We have all heard the phrase, “Don’t
talk the talk if you can’t walk the walk”.
Often times we hear that phrase and we think to ourselves that it is a
cute little phrase and it would look great on a church marquee somewhere. But where do you put the phrase on the
marquee that advertises your life? What
do people see when they look at your life.
The Apostle Paul tells us to watch our walk. Galatians 5:16
(NASB) 16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire
of the flesh. So what
does walking in the Spirit look like? We
can find the answer just a couple of more verses down in Galatians 5. The first
is in verse 18: “If you are led by the Spirit you are not
under law.” If Paul had said, “If you follow the Spirit you are
not under law,” it would have been true, but in using the passive voice (“If
you are led”) he emphasizes the Spirit’s work, not ours. The Spirit is not a
leader like the pace car in the “Daytona 500.” He is a leader like a locomotive
on a train. We do not follow in our strength. We are led by his power. So “walk
by the Spirit” means stay hooked up to the divine source of power and go
wherever he leads.
The second description of our walk in
the Spirit is in verse 22:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there
is no law. If our Christian walk is to be a walk of love and joy
and peace, then “walk by the Spirit” must mean “bear the fruit
of the Spirit.” If we look at these scriptures
together, here is what we discover. If
we are “led by the spirit” then we will produce the “fruit
of the Spirit.” In other words, if our walk is truly
being led by God’s Spirit, then our lives should be reflective of love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. On the flip side, if our
lives do not reflect these fruits, our walk is off and we are not being led by
the Spirit. Thus the battle begins in
our soul. Look at verse 17, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and
the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh; for these are opposed to each
other to prevent you from doing what you would.” There is a spiritual war that
is taking place within us, the desire to serve God versus the constant barrage
of temptations, past mistakes, etc.
These things that haunt us and constantly throws fiery darts at us
should serve as a reminder that Satan is trying everything he can do to destroy
our walk. John Piper states, “A Christian is not a person who experiences no
bad desires. A Christian is a person who is at war with those desires by the
power of the Spirit.” As a Christian,
you are a secure Child of God, so since Satan can’t drag your soul to Hell, he
will do everything he can to destroy your witness so that people will not see
Christ in you. If he is successful, he
wins other souls to his eternal domain.
When he attacks us, stand firm on the promise we find in 1 John 4:4 (NASB)” 4 You are from God, little children,
and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in
the world.” We have the power of Christ in us to overcome
the desires of the flesh. We have the
power of Christ in us to resist the temptations and not fulfill the lusts of
the flesh. We have the power of Christ
within us to turn our walk into His talk.
If we tap into that power source, His love becomes evident in our lives
and people will be drawn to Jesus because they see Him in us. My prayer is that we all walk the walk in a
manner that reflects His talk.
Scripture to Claim:
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25
submitted by David Miller
