For the last seven weeks I have been writing on ‘How to know if you’re walking in the Spirit.’ I wrote on the fruit being produced by the Spirit in our lives. This is one way to know if you are growing in your walk with the Lord and if you are in the spirit or not. It is a practical application that is so simple that one could almost forget as human beings we like to complicate things to make them sound better.
This post is to encourage those who want to be led by the Holy Spirit to continue to grow in your walk with the Lord and to help recognize His leadings. I know that when the Holy Spirit leads us according to the Bible, He will not force you to obey. God always gives us a choice. Being led by the Spirit is in partnership with His leading. Galatians 5:16-18 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17) For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18) but if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.”
To me that sums it up Spirit or flesh were either in one or the other. Over the years mankind tried to make walking in the Spirit more about the nine gifts of the Spirit which these are good but come from the Spirit they are not the proof of you continuing to walk in the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is the proof of you being led by the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23) gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” Verse 25 “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”
To end this series the next two is a fruit of gentleness and self-control. Sometimes it requires a lot of self-control to stay in gentleness especially when dealing with contentious people. Being gentle means, you’re not being harsh or hard. “Gentleness means the quality of kind, tender, or mild-mannered.” Since I’m more Type-a I tend to sound harder than I mean to be. I see things in black and white, right and wrong. So, I can sound harsher to others than it is meant. God has been working on me through the years and will continue to work on me so that I do not sound harsh. He’s seasoned me by His Spirit to think through responses so that it sounds gentler. It is still truths but with love. I would never intentionally hurt someone, so I am using my own life to help us understand that at times we need seasoning to bring out of us the un-Christlikeness that is flesh.
Self-control is keeping oneself in check and not losing control in a situation. Self-control “the ability to control oneself, in particular ones’ emotions and desires or the expression of them in one’s behavior, especially in difficult situations.” Being led by the Spirit produces this in our lives. But we have a choice in every situation how we will respond and what choice we want to make in our lives. Battling the flesh is a daily fight. Our flesh does not like to submit to the Spirit but when you’re wanting to be led by the Spirit you learn to choose His way and surrender that flesh to be crucified so that God gets the glory. By doing so you will begin to see the fruit come forth from your life.