Fight & Follow

Galatians 5:16-26

“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 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. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”

As Christians we are called to live a life that is different than that of the world, but what does that mean? The phrase “different than the world” can sound so judgmental and make us sound like we are trying to be better than everybody else, but that’s not the case. We are all naturally sinful people. From the day we were born we have always wanted to follow our natural desires. When we were hungry we cried for food, when we wanted a toy we took it even if someone else was playing with it. We naturally want what we want, and as we get older those desires don't change. We want what we want when we want it and that has and can get us in trouble. As Christians God has called us out of the darkness of our sinful nature to follow Him, and He will give us everything that we will need.  

When we became Christians we got a lot of help when it comes to fighting against our natural sinful desires. In Luke 14:16-17 Jesus says, “If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you.” We have all the power we need to fight the sin that we may constantly deal with, but how do we do that?

Defeating the sinful desires that we face isn't easy. Many times we fool ourselves thinking we can fight it off using pure willpower. We say in our minds that we can fight whatever that habit is, but when we do that we fight in our own strength instead of partnering with the amazing power of the Holy Spirit. We also can over spiritualize the situation at times and sit back praying that God will just take it away. Yes God can move suddenly and dry up some things in our lives, but we also have to understand that He can and will also bless a process. If we aren't willing to partner with the power of the Holy Spirit that’s inside of us I fear that we will never see the transformation and freedom that we seek.

The scripture makes it clear that following our sinful desires leads to all kinds of sinful acts (Galatians 5:19-21). Some may say that some of the sins are not as bad as the others, but that's just not true. Whether we deal with sexual sins or envy we cant allow either to run our life. All sin is a big deal and can do major damage in our live if we don't allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit in every part of our lives.

There are three tips I see in this scripture that will help us fight against our sinful nature and bad habits and live a life where we follow the Holy Spirit's lead. So how do we Fight and Follow?

1.     Realize It

    If we are going to fight against our sinful nature and follow the Holy Spirit we must first REALIZE that we are in a spiritual war and that we need some help.

    Have you ever been watching football and see the quarterback drop back to throw? As he locks in on the wide receiver on his left you see a big 300-pound lineman come on his right and lay him out? The quarterback was so focused on trying to make the big play that he didn't realize that he was about to get sacked. Sometimes that’s how our fight against our sinful nature can be. We can be so focused on the big plays, like perfect church attendance and other things that make us look good on the outside, but we forget the Devil is waiting to lay us out. 1 Peter 5:8 Tells us to, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. If we are going to follow the Holy Spirit we must first realize that we are in a battle and are in desperate need of a helping hand.

    Galatians 5:16-17 “So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 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.” We are all in a constant spiritual battle. Our sinful nature constantly fights against the Holy Spirit and if we are not aware that we are in that battle and that we have all the help we will ever need, then we will never experience the freedom and victory that we so desperately want.

2.     Identify It

    Being honest about where we are spiritually is the first step in fighting against our sinful nature and following the Holy Spirit's guide.

Have you ever watched a scene from one of those cop shows where a witness stands behind a mirrored glass window and has to choose from a group of people and identify which person they think is the perpetrator?  It seems like a lot of pressure to pick the person who may have hurt them or someone they love, but it's necessary in order to help the investigator identify the right person and put them away.

Most of us have bad sinful habits in our life that need to be identified and taken out of our life. 

    Too many times we go on through our life allowing our sinful habits to hurt and control our lives. The Holy Spirit gives us the power we need to fight against any sinful habit or problem that we may face, but we have to call it out first. When we expose our sin it starts to take away its power. I've heard it explained like this; Sin is like mold that grows best in cold, dark and hidden places like on the bottom of a rock, but when we turn that rock over and expose that mold to the sun it starts to die. When we identify and call out the mess of habitual sin in our life we not only expose it to others but to the SON who starts to kill that sin in our life.

    In Galatians 5:19-21 it is made clear what following our sinful desires can lead to. “When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God.”

    I love this list because it calls out all types of sin and brings them all up to the same level. Too many times we minimize our sin because it's not as "big" as someone else's. Paul makes it clear here that sin is sin and if we are going to fight against it and follow the Holy Spirit then we can not allow our sinful desires to take lead.

If we want to start fighting the sin in our life and start following the Holy Spirit we must first be real about where we are Spiritually. Like the witness behind the mirrored glass we have to point out the sin we struggle with so that we can begin the process of getting rid of it. No matter if we consider our sinful habits "big" or "small" we have to get serious about identifying it, so that it can be cut out of our life.

3.     Fill it

As we start to identify the mess of our sinful nature and start to follow the Holy Spirit more we will start to be filled with the FRUIT of the Holy Spirit as a result.

We are all vessels. A vessel is made to hold stuff. Whether it's a bowl that holds crisp fruit or a cup that holds fresh cool water a vessels purpose is to be filled with something. If a bowl or cup isn't being used to hold something then it really doesn't have much of a purpose. We are all spiritual vessels, but unlike a cup or a bowl that spends most of its time in a cabinet not being used we are constantly being filled with something. Whether good or bad we are being filled, that's what we are made for. So if we are constantly being filled, then what are we being filled with? Naturally our sinful nature wants to fill us up. It's our job to make sure that we get filled with the characteristics of the Holy Spirit and not allow our sinful nature to take over our lives.

Galatians 5:22-23 says  “But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

    This scripture points out the traits that the Holy Spirit will produce in us if we make the choice to follow it as we go through it. None of these traits come naturally to us and will take much intentionality and effort. We also must walk with humility when these traits start to become evident in our lives remembering that we are no better than anyone else and that God is doing the work in us.

    The Holy Spirit gives us the tools to fight against the sinful desires we face, but we have to make room for them. When it comes to being filled with the characteristics of the Holy Spirit we have to make sure that we are also allowing God to clean us of the stuff that may get in the way of the Holy Spirit flowing through us. Which brings us to our last point.

4.     Kill It

    If we are to be filled then parts of us must be killed. If we want to follow the Holy Spirit we have to identify the mess that's in us and get rid of it. Being filled with selfish desires and sinful habits leaves little room for the Holy Spirit to flow freely in our life.

I saw a news report of a woman who was fascinated with rats. She was so fascinated with rats that she had them as pets. She intended to only have rats of the same gender, but accidentally got two rats of opposite gender. Pretty soon rats had taken over her house, but the strange thing about it was that she didn't seem to be too bothered about it.

    Sin can be like that. We take it in because it seems cute and fun, but then we find ourselves with a sin infestation. In almost every corner of our life the sin has taken over, and if we aren't careful we can become comfortable with the sin in our life and not realize how much of a problem it is and not be aware of the damage it is causing in our life.

    The Bible makes its clear about what we should do with the sin in our life. Galatians 5:24-25 says, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives."

    We can't be like the lady in the news report and become ok with sin taking over our life. We have to daily kill our selfish sinful desires in order to allow ourselves to be filled with the ways of the Holy Spirit. God wants us to be filled with love, joy, peace and all the other characteristics of the Holy Spirit, but that can only fully happen when we daily kill the lust, greed, jealousy and other sinful ways that are presently filling us up.

    So how do you Kill It? You kill those sinful desires daily, by intentionally praying to God each day and handing them over to Him saying something like, "Lord I give ________ (call out your sin) over to you today. It no longer has control over me, and I ask that you fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I may honor you in every way today." It's an exercise that we should do everyday and when we do we will start to see the power of the Holy Spirit guiding us in every area of our life. For some of us this may be a prayer that we pray not only daily, but multiple times a day. The point of doing this is to help us be aware that we can not beat our sinful desires on our own and that we should call on and depend on God to free us from the chains of our sins and fully trust that He is the only way we can truly break free.

Fighting against our sinful nature and following the Holy Spirit is not an easy thing at all, but if we are going to fully experience all that God has for us we have to make it a priority. For some getting others to help you may be a part of the process of you becoming free from the sinful desires that have taken over your life. Whether it be professional help or just simply having a spiritually mature friend help you out get the help that you need so that you can fight and follow.

A Greater Later (Genesis 25:27-34)

Genesis 25:27-34

Is what you want NOW worth giving up what you will get or plan for LATER? So many times we sacrifice our LATER for what we want NOW. We don't want to eat healthy NOW, so we gain weight LATER. We don't feel like working out NOW, so we become unhealthy LATER. We want to have sex NOW, so we bring extra emotional baggage into our relationships/marriage LATER. We want to look at pornography NOW, so we sacrifice our spiritual freedom LATER. We want to buy the new “whatever” NOW, so we forfeit our financial freedom LATER. We all have a NOW that is presently killing our LATER. We know we want to be GREATER LATER, but our appetite for NOW keeps getting in the way. 

In Genesis 25:27-34 we find ourselves having a front row seat to one of the worst NOW decisions. In the story Esau comes home from a long hunting trip literally starving. At the end of this encounter with his brother Jacob Esau ends up giving up his birth right for a bowl of stew....A BOWL OF STEW! The birthright was a special privilege that the oldest son had in the family. In addition to getting extra portions of the family inheritance the oldest son would become the leader of the family. In the heat of the moment Esau passed up a GREATER LATER for an immediate pleasure. 

How does it make sense for Esau to give all that up for one moment of satisfaction? When reading this scripture in the past I usually give Jacob a hard time for being so conniving to his brother and taking advantage of him, but what if Esau wasn't as much of a victim as we make him out to be? At the end of the day Esau was his own person, and was responsible for what happened. There had to be something Esau could have done to not put himself in a situation like this. Maybe he could have packed more food for the trip or maybe he could have come home sooner. I am not sure of all the details, but I know Esau could have planned better. 

Just like Esau we sometimes fine ourselves in a situation where we allow our hunger for NOW forfeit our GREATER LATER. So how can we minimize the chances of this happening? 

Evaluate your Now

As we wrap up the first month of 2017 its not to late to take a couple steps back and ask these questions: Is what I’m doing NOW causing me to forfeit my GREATER LATER? Are the choices you are making relationally, sexually, habitually, financially, emotionally and spiritually helping you towards building a GREATER LATER or are they destroying it? We all know the answer, so lets be honest with ourselves and work on doing less of what destroys and more of what builds. Esau didn't take the time to do this. Lets not make the same mistake. 

Plan for Your Later

My mentor tells me this quote from Benjamin Franklin all the time; “Failing to plan is planning to fail." This statement is so true. If we don't plan for our GREATER LATER then its not going to happen. Nobody accidentally becomes great they plan for it. Planning and hard work are the main ingredients for success there is no other way around it. We have to plan to lose weight, get out of debt, have a better relationship/marriage, stop looking at pornography, stop sleeping around, and eat better. Whatever it is that will make your later greater plan to do more of that and less of what will forfeit it. 

Get the Help You Need

As we move towards our greater later we have to keep in mind that we will need some help. No matter what level you are at or what you want to stop doing, we will all need at least a little help. Some of us may just need someone to hold us accountable to better habits. Some may need to seek professional help. Whatever you need to do to have a greater later DO IT! Do not allow embarrassment, fear or shame keep you from the greater later God has for you. GO GET YOUR GREATER LATER!!!