WALKING IN THE
SPIRIT
Gal 5:22-25
But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within
accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even
temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness,
Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence).
Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge]. And those who
belong to Christ Jesus (the Messiah) have crucified the flesh (the godless
human nature) with its passions and appetites {and} desires. If we live by the
[Holy] Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. [If by the Holy Spirit we have
our life in God, let us go forward walking in line, our conduct controlled by
the Spirit.]
John 15:4-5 Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you.
[Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of
itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you
bear fruit unless you abide in Me. I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever
lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me
[cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.
Babies Cannot Walk
The final step to developing your
spirit is to walk in the spirit. To walk in the spirit means to allow the Holy
Spirit to control you. He controls you by working through your spirit to bring
your mind and body under the obedience to God. As we are now made spiritually
alive in Christ, we ought to grow and learn to walk spiritually like new born babies. The
born again experience is a new life experience. Forgiveness of sins is not the most
important aspect of the born again experience. The most important part of the good
news of salvation is that the Life of Christ is in us. The life and love of God
comes to dwell in us after the rebirth. This is the most important part of
salvation that we need to be always conscious of. Always confess this truth to
yourself until it becomes a reality to you. The life of God is real. The Holy
Spirit in us is real. The love of God shed in our hearts should be felt by all
who encounter us. People should see us as real believers as we grow in the
faith. A human baby becomes a real man when it grows and learn to do what
matured humans do. We must move from the baby Christianity. We need to move to
spiritual maturity and walk as developed Christians. Babies don’t know how to
walk. They cannot do many things on their own. Babies demand constant
attention. Believers at the babyhood and childhood stage looks very similar to
a human baby. Such believers demand constant visitations. They are not committed
to anything in church. They cannot join the choir, ushers team, prayer warriors and
the bible study class. They are just like little babies; you cannot entrust anything
very important to your baby. They cannot be given leadership responsibilities
at church. We all know that babies cry a lot. They cry to seek attention. Childhood
Christians also cry for the pastor all the time. Such Christians cannot
spiritually man their home. They will cry for the pastor when they or any of
their household folks are sick. They will cry at the usher when they are not
given their regular seats. They do not learn the art of prayer so they would
cry when the pastors take them to long prayer retreats. Babies and children
disturb a lot. I happened to visit my sister for a week. She had a new baby and
a three year old boy at the time of my visit. Very early each morning as I
prepare to start the day, the little boy would come to my room with his toys.
He would play a lot and make noise. He didn’t even notice that he disturbed
those in the house who were still asleep. He disturbed as we watch television.
Even at dining table, this boy would still talk and disturb. Children are like
that. They want their presence to be noticed all the time. They are yet to
learn to value thinking, reasoning and analysing. Childhood believers are just
like my little niece. They talk and
complain a lot. They criticise their leaders and complain about many issues in
the church. They also gossip about others. Another significant thing about
babies is that they cannot walk. They are carried about all the time. Can you
imagine a mother still carrying a thirteen old baby? How would you great man of God give them personal prophesy and feel if your
child is forty years and has never walked? Most believers are like that. They
never have learnt to walk in the spirit. They are still babies carried to and
fro by anything they hear. They have never trained their spirit to be
productive. Such believers run from prophet to prophet and from meetings to another. They want to hear a personal prophesy or directions. You can only be physically productive if you can talk, walk and work. Spiritual productivity begins as we walk in the Spirit; allowing the Holy Ghost control us. In the letter to the Galatians,
we are told to walk in the spirit so we do not fulfil the desires of their
sinful nature. The Spirit in us believers is Holy. He gives us the nature to be
righteous and holy. He gives us the ability to bear righteous fruits. We need
to let the righteous nature of love and joy control us. You would agree with me
that children have the potential ability to talk and walk. They only have to
develop these abilities by training their bodies. In the same way Christians
have the potential ability to manifest the fruit of the spirit. The fruit of
the spirit are the abilities that every matured believer manifests. Matured
trees manifests their fruits so why can’t matured believers produce their
required fruits?
The Fruit Of The Spirit.
If we constantly allow the Holy
Spirit in us to control us the most important evidence is the fruit we
manifest. Our attitude and character tell the kind of nature in us. We have
the nature of God. The nature of kindness, forgiveness, patience, peace,
faithfulness, gentleness and any good thing you can think of. Christ choose us
to bear fruits that would last. Good fruits last. Memories of good people
lasts. The legacies of good people are forever remembered. We all miss the
presence of kind and lovely persons. The desire of God for us to
bear fruits that last. Parents desire for their children is to see them fruitful: matured and
independent. The fruits believers are suppose to bear are as follows:
Gal 5:22-23 But the
fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is
love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness,
goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility),
self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law
[that can bring a charge].
Compare your character to the list above. Are you bearing signs of a good fruit? Remember that a fruit tells the kind of tree that bear it. If only you constantly are connected to the good sterm, Christ the vine, then you as a branch would always bear the good fruit. A spirit controlled conduct or fruit is full
of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control and
faithfulness. Our conduct and behaviour should be like the Spirit controlled.
By their fruits you would know them. A spiritually matured person manifests the
fruit of the spirit.
Hindrances to Growth
Gal 5:19-21 Now the doings (practices) of the flesh are clear (obvious):
they are immorality, impurity, indecency, Idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife,
jealousy, anger (ill temper), selfishness, divisions (dissensions), party
spirit (factions, sects with peculiar opinions, heresies), Envy, drunkenness,
carousing, and the like. I warn you beforehand, just as I did previously, that
those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
We cannot end this series by not
discussing the obstacles to spiritual maturity. Some of you think the things
listed in the opening Scripture do not apply to you. If you are human these things would
definitely relate to you. There are two desires in each of us(assuming you reading is also a believer). The desire of
the flesh and the desire of the recreated human spirit. The desire of the flesh seeks things contrary to the desire of the spirit. The desire of the flesh seeks for body pleasures, pride, evil lusts and all the traits listed in Gal 5:19-21. For the unbelievers,
since their hearts are unregenerate(not born again), their spirits desire to fulfil
their father’s desire, the devil’s. Saturn is the father of all unbelievers. Unbelievers
are terrible( I don’t mean to say I hate them, but I believe that the love of
God demonstrated to them can change them. I always yearn to see God love
unbelievers through me). Aside the flesh of unbelievers desiring to oppose God,
the devil and demons also influence them to do things against God. The above scripture
is not describing the desires of an unbeliever’s heart. It describes the
desires of the flesh. All persons have flesh, wither a believer or unbeliever. The difference is that the believer has the nature(power and presence) of God in him which is a
natural desire to do good. This person of the Holy Spirit equips the believer to
overcome the desires of the flesh always. Any unbeliever has no power to
control his or her fleshy desires. To make matters worse, the nature of evil is
in his or her heart which makes that person purpose in the heart to do bad
things only. All I want to say is that your body or flesh is the main hindrance
to spiritual maturity. It is easy to engage in sinful acts. We all enjoy having
our own way and insisting on our rights always. We enjoy anything that brings
pleasure to the flesh. Pleasure is good but the desire for fleshy pleasure should not be the
main motive of all our actions. The love for God should be the main focus of
all our earthly activities. Our pleasure should be in seeing good happen to all men. Let the love of God control you and no hindrance can
prevent you from becoming a person after Gods own heart. Let forgiveness be
your motto. Believe in the best of every one. Let self control and humility be your belt. Your
daily attire should be love as an underwear, peace as a dress and joy as a beautiful
ornament.
