Don't Sell Your Birthright by Walking in the Flesh!

As believers it is important to walk in the Spirit as Paul exhorted the Galatians to walk in the Spirit and not to succumb to the desires of the flesh.

We were called to freedom from the law of sin and death by and through Christ Jesus. 

Our freedom should not serve as a license to follow our sensual and fleshly desires but should be used, through love to serve one another.

In serving one another we become more like Christ, who was the servant of all, by laying down His life so that we might live.  We too are called to give up not give in to what our flesh desires us to do in the moment.

In order to keep in step with the Spirit we need to realize that the desires of the flesh are contrary to the desires of the Spirit that lives inside of the believer.

Paul lays out the works of the flesh in Galatians 5:19-21

Now the works of the flesh are evident: 

sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 

idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, 

fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 

envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.  

I warn you, as I warned you before 

that those who do such things 

will not inherit the kingdom of God.

Paul then goes on to list the fruit of the Spirit as:  

Love

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Faithfulness

Gentleness

Self-Control

And he finishes the list with the statement:

And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh 

with its passions and desires.

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.  Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.

This warning clearly stated serves as a safeguard for our hearts.  When we think about ourselves too much we are conceited.  We believe the lie that what I want and need is all that matters and then our flesh readily follows our mind that has conformed to the world's mindset.

When we become full of our selves and think about what we are not getting that we desire in our flesh, then we begin to envy one another.  When we see things that others have that we desire we entertain envy.   Even seeing someone else's marriage and coveting what you see that they have can lead you down a path of destruction for your life and the life of others.

Our lives are not our own and when we proceed through life ,as if we are in charge without regard for God or His word, that clearly states that we are His workmanship, created in His image to serve Him and not ourselves, we sin.

Our sin does not just effect or affect us but everyone in our lives.  We are part of a body and when one member suffers due to the sin of one person we all suffer.

We are exhorted by Paul to not put obstacles in anyone's way so that no fault will be found with our ministry.

2 Corinthians 6:3-10

Behold, now is the favorable time; 

behold, now is the day of salvation.  

We put no obstacles in anyone's way, 

so that no fault may be found with our ministry, 

but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way:  

by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger, by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; 

by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise.  We are treated as imposters, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything.  

We make no provision for the flesh in our call as servants of our great King!  We endure a variety of struggles but we act with purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech.

We are called by God to be genuine in our love for one another and not to lie.   The greek word for kindness means:  moral goodness, integrity and gentleness.

Our lives are to be lives of integrity.  If we follow the desires of our flesh we sell our birthright like Esau who, in the moment of hunger, exchanged his inheritance for a bowl of soup.

When we act out the desires of our flesh, we in essence move away from God, declaring ourselves as god and follow the road of death and destruction.  Like a dog returning to his vomit we eat of our own bellies, doing what Ephesians 2 says that we used to do;

walking in the trespasses and sins in which we once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience-- 

... living in the passions of our flesh, carrying the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, 

like the rest of mankind.

We were called out of this life by God 

for our good and His glory

BUT GOD
rich in mercy, because of His great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses made us alive together with Christ-- by grace you have been saved-- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 


If we stay the course, especially through great difficulty, walking in step with the Spirit as defined in 2 Corinthians 10:5-7, we are equipped to walk in the Spirit.

We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, being ready to punish every disobedience, 

when your obedience is complete.  

We are indeed engaged in a battle against the world, the flesh and the devil and we must realize that our flesh will not engage in a battle against itself.  We must, by the power and Spirit of God manage our hearts before a holy God and turn away from our own thoughts and opinions when they are contrary to His word.

Father in Heaven, You are good and Your great love and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives as we stay the course of the Spirit ,not conforming our hearts to our fleshly desires but running the race with endurance that You set before us.

Thank You for the grace that we have to walk in step with the Spirit.  Help us to display lives of integrity for Your good name.  Help us Lord to recognize when we are exalting ourselves above you by following our sinful hearts.