So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16)
No one likes it when a piece of technology does not work. My family once used a cable provider that constantly wandered in and out of service. We would be watching something and the image would repeatedly freeze. At other times, the internet would suddenly go out. It was very frustrating.
God created humanity’s righteous machine to work. We were created in the image of God with the intention that we would live in a way that pleased God. We were given the power to do the right thing every time, to love God perfectly, as well as our fellow human beings.
We no longer are born into a situation where we can live that way in our own power. Our default state is to be in “the flesh,” to be in our skin. Our bodies have desires that war against God’s will, and it can be a constant struggle to do the right thing.
However, the story does not end here. The New Testament is optimistic about what God can do in us. God wants to “plug us in” to the Holy Spirit. We do not have to have spotty spiritual service. The Holy Spirit does not cut in and out. We can be “filled” with the Spirit so that our righteous machine consistently does God’s will and shows love to our neighbor.
Don’t settle for moral failure; God wants to give you spiritual power.
Ken Schenck is vice president for planning and innovation at Houghton College (NY) and a professor in New Testament. He previously served as dean of Wesley Seminary at Indiana Wesleyan University.
© 2021 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
