I say, all of you walk by [the] Spirit and you will not bring to maturity the desires of the flesh – Galatians 5:16
Walking is a term used to describe how we generally manage our lives. Prior to being saved we walked according to the age of this world, which is a malignantly evil period. We had a lifestyle that was controlled by the futility of the mind.
in which once all of you walked according to the age of this world, according to the head of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of the disobedience – Ephesians 2:2
Therefore, I say and testify in the Lord, you are to no longer walk according to also the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their minds, Ephesians 4:17
Now we are God’s children and are to walk in the light. This is a lifestyle that rejects the works of the flesh and seeks to fulfil the desires of the Spirit so that we are fellowshipping with God.
If perhaps we should say that we are having fellowship with Him and we are walking in the darkness, we are lying and are not doing the truth. – 1 John 1:6
But if perhaps we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son keeps on cleaning us from all sin. – 1 John 1:7
We have a walk that is through faith, not through sight. This means we base our lifestyle upon the promise that God has given to us.
For we walk through faith, not through sight, 2 Corinthians 5:7
God has prepared good works for us to walk in. This involves doing what is right and loving the brethren.
For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus upon the basis of good works, which God prepared beforehand in order that we should walk in them, Ephesians 2:10
How we frame our minds directly impacts how we walk.
For the ones that are [walking] according to flesh, set their minds of the things of the flesh, but the ones [walking] according to Spirit, the things of the Spirit. – Romans 8:5
We are no longer in the flesh so we should be walking by the Spirit.
However, you are not in flesh, but in Spirit, since indeed [the] Spirit of God dwells in you. And if, assuming it is true, someone does not have [the] Spirit of Christ, this one is not His. – Romans 8:9
Walking by the Spirit is going to start with a mind that is focused on the things above. These are the things that have to do with our position and possessions in salvation. Having our minds focused here gives us a proper measuring stick for our lifestyle. Now with our mind set in the right place, by using the renewed mind Christ gave us, we can evaluate any situation we face and discern the proper direction to go as we govern our lives by the Spirit. As we learn to identify the desires from the Holy Spirit and seek to fulfill those desires, rather than the desires from the flesh, our lives will begin to show this in the way we do things, the choices we make, the people we hang around, the things we involve ourselves in. And because we are walking by the Spirit, we will not bring the desires of the flesh to completion. Yes, we will still get them, but since our mind is focused on the truth and we are living that out we will recognize them, take the way of escape, and overcome them.
Today let us take a little bit of time to remind ourselves of who we are and get our minds framed on the things above. We are children of God. We are saints. We are in Christ and therefore are righteous ones before God. Now, let us act like it, not by self-effort, but by learning to identify the desires from the Spirit and seeking to achieve them so that we are walking by the Spirit.
