Galatians 5 is all about the battle between flesh and spirit. It starts out by saying "Be free!". Quit working so hard to "be the best you can be" when the Spirit is your source of all that He wants you to be, so just focus on being filled with the Spirit! In other words, CHILL!
Interestingly enough, Paul talks about the treadmill too! Verse 7 says "What happened? You were doing so well!" (SALversion) "Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? That kind of persuasion does not come from the One who calls you. 'A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.'" (Have you ever known someone who reminded you of yeast, making mountains out of molehills, spreading fungus just a little at a time??? What's scarier...have you ever BEEN that person??? Don't forget to check for a log in your eye.Mt.7:5)
We start getting into trouble on our walk, when we get tired and Satan (or someone Satan sends) sneaks in and starts "throwing you into confusion"(vs.10)...
What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? James 4:1
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
These next verses sum up this battle within us...
"So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
Paul then goes on to list examples of the things the flesh lusts after, and then what the Spirit provides as the fruit. See, I think most people get so tired because they aren't walking in the Spirit, they are walking in their own good works. They think if they do those 9 fruits (love, joy, peace, goodness, etc), it results in being filled with the Spirit, but in reality-- if you are walking in the Spirit, the result is the fruit. See how Galatians 5:22 puts it? The fruit is singular, not plural. There is 1 fruit with 9 manifestations. If you are living controlled by the Spirit, these 9 come out from you with ease....the YOU He is creating you to be. "But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
"...because you are not under the law, but under grace." Romans 6:14
Again...be free! Chill. Inhale. Exhale. "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free." Gal. 5:13 It was for freedom that Christ set us free, so don't go back into slavery.
to be cont'd...
