Friday, March 14, 2025
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 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 keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 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. 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. Galatians 5:16-24
The Answer is...
Last Sunday we heard Pastor Jim talk about Jesus in the temple, clearing it out because it was being used in such a way that did not bring honor, glory, and proper worship to the holy God that resided there. This was holy discontent because they were desecrating the temple, and he could not ignore it.
As followers of Jesus our bodies are a temple, and he is in us. We need to always keep our bodies (physical, heart, and mind) free from anything that would not bring glory to God. We worship him with our whole lives and if we are allowing those things in our bodies we cannot worship him properly. When unresolved anger leads us to sin then that is unholy discontent. It is not about justice and righteousness or making sure that God gets the glory. It is about satisfying our flesh and losing control.
The only way we can keep from falling into unholy discontent is to be completely immersed in him. We will still get angry but if we are in him and he is in us, it goes right to him, surrendered in prayer. As soon as it creeps up – pray for him to take every thought captive.
There is an older praise and worship song that is making the rounds again. Some of the words are:
This is the air I breathe…
Your holy presence living in me…
This is my daily bread…
Your very word spoken to me…
I’m desperate for you…
I’m lost without you…
As a follower of Jesus walking with him looks like breathing him in, going to him alone for living water and daily bread, and realizing how very desperate and lost we are without him. Abiding in him. When we turn to the desires of our flesh to numb the pain and silence anger, we end up pushing it down and we pack more and more on top until we end expressing our anger in the wrong way which becomes unholy discontent.
The answer is abiding. Abiding in him helps to keep us from turning to wrong things when we have emotions we don’t know what to do with or we don’t want to feel. When we don’t take it to Jesus, we risk letting it lead us into sin.
Are you abiding in him? Abiding brings the fruit of the Spirit that overcomes the desires of the flesh.
Do you have emotions that you don’t know what to do with?
Give it all to him. He loves you and cares about you. He will carry the burdens and you can find peace and rest in him.
