Friday Reading: Galatians 5 13-17
Key Verse: Galatians 5 17
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.
17 For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary to one another; lest whatever you may will, these things you do.
Devotion:
Does the bible teach you how to sin and do evil? Far from it! It tries to teach us how to do the opposite, how we are to live in liberty and love one another. God's Word is there to guide us away from the evil that has sunk so deep into our world. It is there to teach us that there is evil and that we need to avoid it or be consumed by it. It does not tell us how we should combat it, to kill it off, but that we need to avoid it. In other words, it acknowledges that evil is now part of this world and also that if we give in to it, it will overcome us.
Does the bible teach you how to sin and do evil? Far from it! It tries to teach us how to do the opposite, how we are to live in liberty and love one another. God's Word is there to guide us away from the evil that has sunk so deep into our world. It is there to teach us that there is evil and that we need to avoid it or be consumed by it. It does not tell us how we should combat it, to kill it off, but that we need to avoid it. In other words, it acknowledges that evil is now part of this world and also that if we give in to it, it will overcome us.
It all starts with us. If we are not willing to make the first move to live in harmony, then how are we to ever expect t be able to live in harmony with anyone or anything else? If we do not show respect to others, how do we ever think that we will gain respect from them? If we start to give in to things, then before long we find that we have given in to the things that we once said we never would; we find that we have done the things we said we never would. Once we give in in our minds, it is a simple step before we give in to those things physically.
It should not be taken lightly when we read that we are at war within ourselves. It should not be taken lightly that we are spiritually fighting against evil all the time. If we give in to that fight, then we will loose physically. If we uphold our lives spiritually, then we will uphold our lives physically. Our physical selves are weak and will follow after our spiritual selves. If we follow on in Christ's instructions, then we will have no need to give in to the physical temptations that surround us all the time. Live up to following God's Word!
Points to Ponder:
How long after thinking about something do you do it?
How often have you been lead astray just because you “wanted to see”?
How long after thinking about something do you do it?
How often have you been lead astray just because you “wanted to see”?