Walk in the Spirit

By Alexandra Copeland

Proverbs 14:12 tells us, "There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death." This speaks to the fragility of our sensibilities at times. Just because something feels right, it doesn't make it right. We can't always trust our feelings and instincts to steer us in the right direction. This is one of the reasons why Heavenly Father tells us in Proverbs 3:5-7(NLT), "5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. 6 Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. 7 Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil." 

Psalm 119:105(NLT) tells us, "Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path." God indeed has a path mapped out for each of us. He has a plan for our lives, and it is a good plan. Heavenly Father is so brilliant and compassionate. He hasn't left us without the tools we need to follow His plan. His Word is our roadmap, and the indwelling Holy Spirit is our guide. Through our Mediator, the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be steered towards the infinite possibilities that God has in store. One of the most important things that God wants us to know about the path He’s planned for our lives is that it cannot be followed by walking in the flesh. It must be walked in the spirit. 

Walking in the flesh is allowing ourselves to be governed by the gratification received from indulging pleasures of the flesh. It is to depend and lean on only information that can be gleaned through the five-senses. With each passing day the flesh is corrupting; it will not last. We are born in sin, and our flesh is imperfect to say the least. So walking in the flesh is a lifestyle that gives way to addictions, phobias, and many other dysfunctions. Through God’s grace, we can overcome these fears. We do this by learning and practicing walking in the Spirit. 

Colossians 1:9-10 (NLT) tells us, “9 So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” Most of us see the hiccups and missteps in life as darts, plots, and tricks from the enemy. Indeed they are, but they also serve as cues and clues that we might be close to veering away from the path that God has laid before us.

The Apostle Paul prayed that God would give us a complete knowledge of His Will, along with spiritual wisdom and understanding. This allows us to know how important spiritual knowledge is to living a life that is pleasing to God. It lets us know how helpful His Word is to staying on the path He’s laid before us. 

God is a Rewarder. He rewards those that diligently seek Him. We have His assurance that the knowledge of His Will and a commitment to live by it will yield something extremely positive. Our lives will honor and please Him when we follow His Word. We will produce good fruit, and continue to grow spiritually. So, when we walk in the Spirit of Christ, blessings and abundance will chase us down. 

The Fruits
Galatians 5 tells us that the flesh craves things that are at odds with what God desires for us. Heavenly Father tells us in verse 17 that the flesh wants to do evil. This is the exact opposite of what the Spirit wants. These two forces, the Spirit and the flesh, are constantly fighting against each other. It feels like a war going on inside our souls, and we decide who is going to win. There would be no contest if these choices and decisions were made for us automatically, but they aren’t. God has given us the gift of free-will. We decide whether the Spirit or the flesh will succeed.

Every choice has a consequence. Every action has a reaction. Somehow, we manage to talk ourselves out of acknowledging this, but it is how God designed life to work. There are dire consequences to walking in the flesh—to governing ourselves by what our sinful nature desires. Galatians 5:19-21(NLT) tells us, “19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” We can see clearly that living our lives with no regard for the plan that God has for us will produce bad tasting fruit that rots and infects everything we touch with its corruptibility.

There’s a much better way, and God offers it through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT) says, “22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!” The law loses its power inside the territory of God’s love, but when we walk according to the flesh, we’re no longer in the ark of Heavenly Father’s safety. We take ourselves out of love’s path where fear is assailed and eradicated, and we place ourselves in the enemy’s territory of darkness, destruction, and despair. It’s a place where his crop produces everything that we don’t want.

The indwelling Holy Spirit is God’s gift to us. Heavenly Father has given us a part of Himself, and placed His Spirit within the innermost part of our beings. Therefore, we are assured that God’s Gift cannot fail, and we can depend on his help totally. Proverbs 3:5 tells us that the way to walk in the Spirit is to put Christ in the driver's seat, and to trust in him with ALL our hearts. This means that we shouldn't allow ourselves to be distracted by all the darts, plots, and tricks of the devil. Our mode of operating should be one of keeping our eyes glued to Jesus Christ, so that we can produce good fruit.

Philippians 2:13 (NLT) tells us, “For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Fruit is yielded from the focus of our intention. When we walk in the Spirit, we are making a choice that pleases Heavenly Father. We are free to carry out our good intentions, because we can be confident that the Spirit will help us to complete what we’ve started. We’re not the ones doing the hard work in this deal. Our charge is to trust in the Lord, and to lean on His direction and guidance. He does the work and we remain committed to seek God first! It’s the Spirit all the way!■ 

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.