Galatians 5: 24-26 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.”
For several days, we have been studying the fruits of the Holy Spirit. But fruit is useless unless it changes our lives. Why should our lives bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit? What do these meditations have to do with Advent; after all, Advent began a few days ago. Advent is the time when we are preparing to celebrate Christmas, the Gift of God’s Son. This season has always been a time for believers to prepare hearts and minds for Christmas. Nothing is more important than a quest for holiness, so that we will be prepared to welcome the Christchild into our hearts.
Every bit of the Book of Galatians is eminently practical. Paul doesn’t waste time in fancy theories, but goes right to the heart of human relations. We might say that we belong to Christ Jesus; however, what does it mean to “crucify the flesh with its passions and desires?” In Paul’s day, crucifixion was one of the ghastliest forms of death available. Nothing was more final than nailing someone to a cross, for death would be inevitable.
Here Paul is advising believers that they must crucify their fleshly natures with their passions and desires, making an end to them finally, so that they can live and walk by the Holy Spirit. As long as believers hang onto any part of their old natures, they cannot possibly be led by the Holy Spirit because light and darkness can’t exist in the same place at the same time. Someone has asked “What is the speed of darkness?” The speed of darkness is the speed of light, for as light comes in, darkness flees.
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us walk in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another.” Here in Ghana, lorry drivers are fond of turning their outside rear view mirrors so that they can admire themselves, thus defeating the original purpose of the mirrors. Believers should learn a lesson from these foolish drivers. When we are living and walking by the Holy Spirit, we must be in step with Him, neither running ahead nor lagging behind. Our eyes must be fixed on God and not on ourselves. As soon as we begin focusing on ourselves, admiring ourselves for our holiness, we will be in trouble. One prayer my husband and I pray daily begs God to help us refrain from praying that God should arrange people and circumstances so that we will be more holy.
Only God can measure human holiness; only God truly knows the human heart. The more we focus on our own holiness, the more conceited we will become. Few things are more provoking than someone with a “holier than thou” attitude. That kind of behavior only provokes others to respond by doing everything they can to demonstrate that this person is no holier than anybody else. At the same time we are busy admiring ourselves, we may also be envying others who appear to be more spiritually advanced. We have no idea what’s happening in the lives of those other believers; perhaps they are envying us!
How do we avoid playing spiritual games that only hurt everybody and accomplish nothing positive? Live by the Spirit. Walk by the Spirit. When we are focusing our attention on the Holy Spirit, we will only look at ourselves long enough to confess our faults and ask God to change us.
“Great!” You say, “How do we do that?” The best way to remain focused on God is to memorize His Word. Find a few verses that really speak to your situation at this point. Put those verses on your phone. Write those verses on post it notes and stick them where you will see them. The more you meditate on those verses, the less you will think about yourself and the happier you-and your neighbors-will be.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to fix our minds and hearts on You and on Your Word, so we won’t be obnoxious to our neighbors. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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