Walk the Walk... But not alone.

Ephesians 5:15-21

15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. 19Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, 20always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Galatians 5:16-26

16So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Our Eyes automatically blink, lungs automatically breathe, and heart automatically pumps blood... All of this without being told specifically to do so. There are a few things that we can learn to do, like singing, playing sports, or just walking and talking, and some of those things require more effort and years to achieve successfully...

There are also things that we will never be able to do as much as we may try... For instance, flying like Superman or completely stopping the aging process (sorry people... no fountain of youth...) But you know what?! That truth can also be applied to our lives spiritually. Within our Christian walk we will never be able to live a Christian life within our own power. We can stop ourselves from saying and doing things that we may regret, we can show restraint with the opposite sex, we can even read our bibles daily...

But when it comes down to it, we can't depend own our own strength to win over sin consistently and confidently. We simply can't live up to God's standards on our own... WE NEED HIM TO HELP US! To walk on through this life and make the most of it, as the verses above encourage us, we have to acknowledge that we are powerless without the Holy Spirit. We have to surrender ourselves to the will of God and actually let Him take over COMPLETELY. It is extremely hard, I must admit to do this, but in order to live a life fully devoted to righteousness, this is the ONLY way.

You are in my prayers.