what does it mean to be driven by the spirit
To walk in the spirit, as explained in Galatians 5, means to walk away from fleshly desires that are in opposition to the Holy Spirit.
Have you ever heard the phrase "walk in the spirit" and wonder what information technology actually means? You might wonder, "does it change the way I walk or is it like an out-of-trunk feel?" I believe walk, in this context, suggests that even the well-nigh ordinary, natural movement through our days is to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Way back in Genesis 6:9, it was said of Noah that he "walked faithfully with God." Information technology'due south a lovely motion picture...how much God desires to live with, walk with, and shepherd us. When you walk with God you hold his hand, seek his voice. You carry in ways that honor your human relationship with Him.
Today, as we heed to the words of Paul to the Galatians, knowing that God fulfilled his promise to send a Helper through Jesus, that voice is no longer merely behind yous maxim "this is the way; walk in information technology" (Isaiah 30:21).
Past the blood and breath of Jesus, that Spirit is within you lot.
What Does 'Walk in the Spirit' Mean?
To walk in the spirit, every bit explained in Galatians five, means to walk away from fleshly desires that are in opposition to the Holy Spirit. It's choosing to not gratify ourselves with "sexual immorality, impurity and immoderacy; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like..." (Gal. 5:xix-21).
Walking is a physical pursuit. You walk in the spirit when your steps are not directed solely by your legs, arms, feet, or senses, but by the unseen Spirit moving inside you. Your actions are led primarily non past your tastebuds or fingertips, for case, only by the Holy Spirit within who "helps united states in our weakness" (Romans 8:26). The aforementioned Holy Spirit that even prays for you when you tin can't find whatsoever words.
Jesus assures his followers of the Spirit's presence and ability in John 14:26:
"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Male parent will ship in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you."
What Is the Context of Galatians five:16?
Paul is writing to the churches throughout Galatia with encouragement to do what is correct in the eyes of God. In a time when many still operated under the condolement zone of laws and works, Paul was intent on defining freedom and grace.
"So I say, walk past the Spirit, and you lot will not gratify the desires of the mankind. For the flesh desires what is opposite to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is reverse to the mankind. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do any you want. Just if you are led past the Spirit, you are not nether the law."– Galatians 5:16-18
You see, all those onetime laws that generations had believed would earn them favor with God were really proving that our sinful selves tin can't satisfy God'due south standards in our own force. We need a Savior.
And because of Christ, who now lives in the believers, Paul is addressing (y'all and I included), the law is fulfilled.
Only the Jewish believers still wanted the Gentiles to live by old laws like circumcision. Paul is urging believers to not be bound to their sometime selves, but rather to walk in a new spirit. His point is that we at present take the Holy Spirit to help united states of america walk away from sin.
Nosotros can't do information technology on our own.
How Do Nosotros Walk in the Spirit?
Just as there are so many means to walk solely in "acts of the flesh," there are always ways to walk in the spirit. Scripture reminds united states:
"No temptation has overtaken you except what is mutual to mankind. And God is faithful; he volition not let you be tempted beyond what you lot tin can conduct. But when you are tempted, he will too provide a way out and so that y'all can suffer it." – one Cor. 10:13
Here are 6 ways to walk in the spirit:
1. Listen
Walking in the spirit is buoyed by a conversation with God. Pray continually for direction, expecting to trust the Holy Spirit's guidance. Surrender your desires or emotions and exist willing to obey his leading. The more than you seek God in confinement, or fifty-fifty amidst chaos, the more you realize the power of the Helper.
two. Dearest
Jesus gave his word that we're to love our neighbor as ourselves, and this ways asking God how to "put on your oxygen mask" so you can serve. Walking in our fleshly desires would mean we gratify just our own pleasures, without concerning ourselves with the needs of others. Ask the Spirit to motility your feet. Ask to be shown where your honey is needed, and what words or actions are right in his eyes.
three. Forgive
Offering forgiveness is a hard road to walk. Merely it's the way to freedom. Putting one foot in forepart of another, trusting God will give you the courage to permit get of bitterness, rage, or revenge, is walking in the spirit. Remember, Jesus non but breathed a Helper into you (John twenty:22), he said in Luke 6:37, "forgive others, and God will forgive y'all."
four. Reconcile
Walking even farther across forgiveness is the spiritual subject field to reconcile. The entire biblical account is a mission of reconciliation. It wasn't popular and then, and it isn't pop now, to make amends, but it is a chore the Spirit tin can equip you lot to accomplish. It's a mission nosotros meet inside 2 Cor. v:18, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled u.s. to himself and gave us the ministry building of reconciliation."
5. Appreciate
I love that walking in the Spirit suggests a gentle and ordinary footstep. It doesn't say nosotros are to bustle up and rush to catch up with Spirit. Instead, information technology'south right within us, every twenty-four hour period, to appreciate. It'south our heart, our guide, our contentment. Keeping a gratitude journal or expressing appreciation and praise for all the wonders of life (fifty-fifty when life isn't wonderful) is walking in the spirit.
six. Abide
The Give-and-take is alive and active, and available for you to bide in. Choosing to plow from other inputs or sources that may pb you off-target, or deposit seeds of sin is walking in the Spirit. Abide in Bible study, faithful friends, pocket-sized groups, and prayer to stay in pace with the Spirit'due south voice.
What Is the Deviation between Walking and Living in the Spirit?
When we accept Jesus, we acknowledge Him as the mode, truth, and life. Nosotros live in the spirit by believing every word he gave us. Living in the spirit acknowledges that our life is not our own, it belongs to God, who deposited the Holy Spirit to guide our actions.
Living in the Spirit means nosotros have faith that nosotros have partaken of the divine. We get to walk in the spirit as a demonstration of what living in the spirit makes possible.
In John 20, Jesus appears to his charmed disciples after his miraculous resurrection and breathes within them the gift of the Holy Spirit. Afterward a greeting of "Peace be with you lot!" Jesus explains, "As the Father has sent me, I am sending you."
Walking in the spirit is the concrete manifestation of accepting that the Holy Spirit is real and present. We yet have bodies that demand help from the Spirit to avoid danger or damage. Then, what we choose to practice, say, or do is how we walk it out.
"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." – Colossians 2:6
Further Reading
How Do Nosotros 'Walk in the Spirit'? The Meaning of Galatians 5:16
3 Means to Make Certain You're Walking in the Spirit
What Does it Mean to "Walk in the Spirit?"
Photo credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/demaerre
This commodity is part of our larger resource library of popular Bible poetry phrases and quotes. We want to provide like shooting fish in a barrel to read articles that answer your questions about the meaning, origin, and history of specific verses within Scripture'south context. It is our hope that these will help you improve understand the significant and purpose of God'southward Word in relation to your life today.
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