Walk in the Spirit
All believers in Jesus Christ have the indwelling Spirit of Christ, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father (John 15:26). And the normal life for all “spirit-filled” believers is living AND walking in the Spirit. “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit” (Gal. 5:25). It’s wonderful to meditate on the new spiritual birth we experienced (John 3:6). And the same way we received Jesus is the same way we are to daily walk with Him, trusting His unconditional love for us.
Walking in the Spirit means yielding to His control, following His lead, and allowing Him to exert His influence over us.
How do you avoid grieving the Holy Spirit? Simply by walking in the Spirit. When we walk in the spirit, we “will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16), that fallen nature that was in direct conflict with the Spirit (Gal. 5:17).
When the old fallen nature (the flesh) is in charge, the results are obvious (Gal. 5:19-21). BUT when the Spirit is in control, He produces Godly qualities WITHIN us. Paul taught the church in Galatia that believers in Jesus Christ “have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires” (Gal. 5:24) and NOW we walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:25).
When we walk in the Spirit, we walk in God’s type of love, we experience the true joy of the Lord. When we walk in the Spirit, our hearts are grateful for what God has ALREADY done, what He is doing now, and what He will yet do. We walk with an expectation of good things ahead of us.
When we walk in peace (Phil. 4:6), we walk in patience, instead of losing our temper. When we walk in the Spirit, we walk in kindness, showing tender concern for the needs of others. When we walk in the Spirit, we are thankful for the goodness of God we’ve ALREADY experienced and steadfastly trust in God and what His Word says. When we walk in the Spirit, we walk in gentleness, which shows up as humility, grace, and thankfulness to God. And when we walk in the Spirit, we walk in self-control, having the ability to say “no” to the flesh.
Finally: To walk in the Spirit is to be filled daily with the Spirit. We see the fruit of thankfulness, singing spiritual songs and finding joy (Eph. 5:18-20; Col 3:16) in whatever we do under the Holy Spirit’s leading. We “let the Word of Christ dwell in us richly” (Col. 3:16). And each day, the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God and teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains us in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). We experience effortless change as the Holy Spirit moves us towards obedience, destroying the sinful appetites of the flesh, which have no more dominion over us.
When we walk in the Spirit, we know that we are truly blessed because of what He has ALREADY done. Our hearts are filled to the full with thankfulness and gratefulness, glorifying God in all His awesomeness!