16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
There is a battle in our hearts. Our selfish, sinful nature does not die at salvation. We are to reckon it as dead (Romans 6:11) but it still breathes within us.
Within me, there is a pull toward sin. I am prone to selfishness. I resist God’s will. I struggle with my own thoughts and emotions. I feel impulses that I do not want to feel. I think thoughts I do not want to think. And I deceive myself in the process. Blaming others, God, or my environment for my problems and struggles. As Paul would say, “O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24). Paul answers his own question. “I thank God–through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (7:25)
Galatians picks up on this same theme. How do we defeat the sinful nature that rages within us? We “live by the Spirit.” Is this easy? No way. Our flesh and the Spirit that indwells us are “in conflict with each other.” So is the answer to try harder? Not really. Because of the power of sin, “you do not do what you want.” Martin Luther called this the “bondage of our wills.” We are powerless against the desires of the flesh. Trying harder, in our own strength, only leads to greater frustration, despair, or the exchange of one sin pattern for another. The answer is counter-intuitive. Instead of trying harder in the flesh, we yield more to the Spirit.
What does that mean in everyday life? It means that the key to victory over sin is growing more in love with Jesus Christ. The more I desire Him, the less I desire sin. For instance, on a human level, the best defense against sexual immorality is a healthy, growing love relationship with one’s wife. The more I desire her, the less I desire the temptations of this world. I still must be diligent and vigilant but these things are motivated out of love not duty. The greatest motivation for righteousness is always love. And in Jesus Christ, we have a love that will never change or let us down.
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:37-39)
So each morning, my first responsibility is to connect with my Savior. Yield to Him. Listen to Him. Ask for His strength. Find a reason to rejoice in Him. Allow myself to be loved by Him. Then as I walk through the day, I continue to meditate on His Word, commune with Him in prayer, and experience His peace in the midst of the hustle and bustle of life.
It is a learning process. It doesn’t happen overnight. But each day we walk in the Spirit, we establish a pattern for the next.
Lord, increase my hunger for You. Thank You for Your unending love toward me. Help me to yield to Your Spirit today.
