The Unforgettable Walk


            It’s early on Wednesday morning as I begin to write today. I haven’t written in a while just because I have been so busy. No excuses just facts. Wednesdays are the busiest but usually I get to spend more time reading and preparing to teach so that isn’t all too bad. I have been really making an effort to live according to scripture. I know, I know, that’s what a person is supposed to do, especially a Pastor. But more than lip service I have a strong desire to include scripture into my personality as well. I want to make it less of an effort and more of a habit. With that said, here is what is on my mind today…

            Galatians 5:16-17 says this, “16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.”

            This is the classic, “bad dog – good dog” inside of you illustration. Each of us has both living inside of us. The one that wins? The one you feed the most! The great thing about scripture is that if you have a question about it, it usually answers itself. And that is what Galatians 5 does. After reading the above mentioned verses one might wonder, “So how am I led by the Spirit?” Great question.

            For years, out of my own ignorance, I thought that the Spirit of God controlled people (Wait, don’t get in a wad yet, let me finish!). But that isn’t what this says at all. It says to let the Holy Spirit guide your life or to walk in the Spirit, not be controlled by the Spirit. If I were controlled by the Spirit then I would be perfect. And despite what my wife Tammy thinks, I am not. The Spirit of God doesn’t control us. He leads us. He shows us a better way yet we are free to choose which way to go. Even better, following the verses above, the bible clearly shows us what “walking the Spirit” looks like as well as not walking in the Spirit.

            Because we (I) like to justify my behavior on a regular basis I’m going to attempt to put verse 19-26 in simple terms. This is my interpretation. I would encourage you to read it for yourself and see what God is telling you. This isn’t the entirety of all things about faith but it shouldn’t be dismissed either. It’s there, in the New Testament, as part of the New Covenant that Jesus established. Here goes nothing…

            Verse 19 actually in the New Living Translation uses these words while describing what not following the leading of the Holy Spirit looks like.

            “…the results are very clear”

            Seems simple enough. Without using the words that seem religious, I’m trying to put them in to today’s modern English language although it may be offensive to some.

-         Immoral sex acts

-         Lust (the Greek word here is “porneia” anyone want to guess where this is going?)

-         Sorcery (witchcraft)

-         Arguing (if I take more joy in arguing than in making peace)

-         Anger problems

-         Selfishness (thinking of me more than anyone)

-         Divisiveness (am I constantly causing problems or fixing them)

-         Jealousy (if I can’t celebrate other’s victories without wishing bad things on them)

-         Getting drunk (whoop, There it is! For all the people that say there’s nothing wrong with it)

And that isn’t even scratching the surface of what some of the original Greek words meant that were written. But then, it goes on to say this; “…anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” Now, I want to say again that not one of us is perfect. Not one (that’s scripture also but I don’t want to seem preachy… I know, too late!). In other words, mistakes will happen but, in my opinion, that is why it says, “living that sort of life”. As someone desiring to be a man of God, this can’t be my lifestyle. This has to be an exception to who I really am.

Now the good stuff. If I am following the leading of the Holy Spirit then all these will be present in my life.

-         Love (am I loving)

-         Joy (am I happy, happy, happy)

-         Peace (do I provide peace to those around me)

-         Patience (God’s still working on me but I am giving great effort)

-         Kindness ( alright alright I get the picture)

-         Goodness

-         Faithfulness (I like the word, loyal)

-         Gentleness

-         Self-control

The most common excuse when speaking to someone about this subject is usually, “But I’ve tried and I just can’t!” And to that I say, “Garbage”. You have overcome certain things in your life because to you they are important. Until living a Godly life becomes more important than your next meal, or your kids, or your job, or your savings account, or your health, or your pets, or your toys (no matter how old you are), or even your spouse you will never truly be walking in the Spirit. Just a few meanings of the word used for “walk” in the Greek; tread all around, be preoccupied with, to live…

We are dedicating 6 or 8 babies at RIO 180 in a couple of weeks. When those babies are hungry, they cry. I have yet to see a mom or dad (lucky for them I haven’t) discipline these babies for crying. The babies never use the toilet. No one is punishing them for using the bathroom in their pants. Why? They are babies. They aren’t developed enough to do these things on their own. But as they grow and mature it is expected that these things will change. So why do we have people who have been Christian for 5, 10, even 20 years still speaking and reacting in anger, being selfish, and being divisive? Because we don’t require Christians to grow up. We don’t call the church out on these things because we are too busy calling the rest of society out on it.

Even more so, we don’t call ourselves out on it. I got up and came to work today and do you know why? I came to work because I was supposed to. I am responsible for doing that on my own. But I am also responsible for walking, living, treading all around and being preoccupied with the Holy Spirit. I don’t need a preacher, teacher, priest, or pope to tell me these things. That’s like my mom coming to me at 41 years old and asking if I need to go to the bathroom. We need to grow up church! Act like the church that God meant for us to be.

I get tired of listening to the Christian faith made fun of because of immature Christians making God look bad and His people look like hypocrites. I will not be perfect but I will try to stop committing the same sin over and over. And maybe, just maybe we can gain enough credibility to do like Paul and tell a lost world to, “…follow me as I follow Christ.” I don’t feel that I’m there but that is the goal.

And I will end with this just so you won’t think that this is just my opinion.

Galatians 6:5 NLT “For we are each responsible for our own conduct.”

 

Have an awesome week,
Pastor Dad

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