by Catherine McDaugale | Jul 15, 2024 | Christian Living, Life, Spiritual Growth
Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. (Galatians 5:16 (NKJV))
God won’t force you to walk in the Spirit. But if you do, it will help you avoid temptation and live a life that’s pleasing to Him. With that in mind, here are 10 ways to walk in the Spirit.
1. Read your Bible
If you want to find out how God wants you to live, you need to read your Bible. Your ways and thoughts are not like God’s (Isaiah 55:8). God’s ways and thoughts are higher (Isaiah 55:9). And He’s revealed them to us in the Bible. So, if you want to know what they are, read it.
2. Memorize Scripture
Memorizing Bible verses helps you to think about God’s Word – His ways – throughout your day. And when we meditate on God’s ways, we’re less likely to give in to temptation. As the psalmist prayed, “Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Psalm 119:11 (NKJV)).
3. Pray
Jesus gave us a great example to follow. He regularly got away to spend time with God the Father and talk to Him (see, e.g., Mark 1:35). As Jesus told Peter, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Mark 14:38 (NKJV)). Pray every day, all throughout your day.
4. Sing
God likes it when we sing to Him. And He has told us to sing. In Psalm 47:6 (NKJV), it says, “Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!” Why? “For God is the King of all the earth . . .” (Psalm 47:7 (NKJV)). Singing is a form of worship. And worship reminds us of our proper position before God. Not only that, there’s joy in worship. So, play your favorite worship song and sing it to the Lord.
5. Gather
The Bible tells us to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another” (Hebrews 10:24–25 (NKJV)). Regularly coming together to worship God, learn from your pastor, and pray with each other will nudge you in the direction of doing good works instead of fulfilling the lusts of your flesh.
6. Fellowship
As it says in Proverbs 27:17 (NKJV), “As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.” When you fellowship – spend time with other believers, talking about the things of God – you naturally encourage and exhort each other in your walk with God.
7. Tithe
This one might seem odd to have on the list. But it’s not. God loves it when you cheerfully give back to Him a portion of what He’s given to you (2 Corinthians 9:7). And the way you treat money reveals what’s in your heart. As Jesus taught us, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21 (NKJV)).
8. Avoid temptation
Galatians 5:19–21 lists some of the works of the flesh. If any of them are a temptation for you, set up boundaries, and then don’t cross them. For example, if you have a problem with drinking alcohol and getting drunk, don’t go to a bar with friends, telling yourself that you’ll only drink soda. Don’t set yourself up for failure.
9. Discover your spiritual gift
God has given each of us at least one spiritual gift. Romans 12:4–8 tells us those gifts are prophecy, ministry, teaching, exhortation, giving, leadership, and mercy. Pray and ask God which one(s) He’s given to you. Pastor Ed Taylor has taught a great series on spiritual gifts. Here’s a link: Teaching on Spiritual Gifts.
10. Serve
Pray and ask God where He wants you to serve with the gift(s) He’s given you. When you hear about a need in your church, step out in faith to find out if that’s where the Lord wants you to serve. Use your spiritual gift(s) to be the hands and feet of Jesus. Even Jesus (God Himself) came to earth not to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28).
Of course, there are more than 10 ways to walk in the Spirit. The more you focus on spiritual things, the more you’ll be attentive to God’s Holy Spirit. So, commit to looking to the Holy Spirit for guidance, reading your Bible, and praying every day. Then, you’ll grow spiritually and stay close to God as you walk by faith with Him.
Photo by Ugne Vasyliute on Unsplash
by Catherine McDaugale | Jul 1, 2021 | Ministry, Spiritual Growth
Remember when you were first learning to ride a bicycle? I do. My dad put an extra set of wheels on my bike that extended off the back wheel to give it more stability. With the training wheels on, I could sit on the bike without balancing and get used to pedaling and moving forward without worrying about falling over.
After I got used to riding my bike with the training wheels, the day came when he took them off. Instead of the extra wheels, my dad held onto the back of the bike’s seat, giving me a little more stability as I learned to balance. Before long, I had learned how to balance and could ride my bike without thinking about it. It had become second nature to me.
In a similar way, when God calls us to do His work, He doesn’t push us into it when we’re not ready. God is gracious to us. Like the training wheels on my bike, He helps us to get used to whatever He’s called us to do before we go solo. The methods God uses will vary in each one of our lives. We are all different, and God tailors the help He gives us to our unique personalities and abilities.
We see an example of God’s use of training wheels in the life of Moses. When God called Moses to lead the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, Moses wasn’t quick to agree. Instead, he came up with several excuses about why he should not be the one to lead them. Moses said to God, “Who am I that I should go to Pharoah, and that I should bring the children of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11 (NKJV)). In response, God told Moses that He would be with Moses and gave him a sign that He had sent him (Exodus 3:12).
Even with God’s assurance, Moses still didn’t agree to go, saying, “But suppose they will not believe me or listen to my voice; suppose they say, ‘The Lord has not appeared to you’” (Exodus 4:1 (NKJV)). God then gave Moses three miraculous signs to do before the Israelites so they would believe him (Exodus 4:2-9).
Yet, Moses came up with a third excuse. Moses said, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue” (Exodus 4:10 (NKJV)). “So the Lord said to him, ‘Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the Lord?’” (Exodus 4:11 (NKJV)). God then told Moses that He would be with his mouth and teach him what to say (Exodus 4:12).
Still, instead of submitting in obedience, Moses told God, “O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send” (Exodus 4:13 (NKJV)). In other words, “Thank you very much, but please send someone else. I don’t want to do it.”
God, being so gracious to Moses, then tells Moses that his brother Aaron, who could “speak well,” could be his spokesman (Exodus 4:14-16 (NKJV)). God instructed Moses, “Now you shall speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And I will be with your mouth and with his mouth, and I will teach you what you shall do” (Exodus 4:15 (NKJV)).
Finally, Moses obeyed God. As we read, we see the progression as Moses gets comfortable doing the work that God called him to do.
- Moses begins by relying on the “training wheels” that God gave him. When Moses met Aaron, he told Aaron “all the words of the Lord who had sent him, and all the signs which He had commanded him” (Exodus 4:28 (NKJV)). Moses and Aaron gathered together the elders of the children of Israel, and Aaron spoke “all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses” and did the signs in their sight (Exodus 4:29-30 (NKJV)). “So the people believed” (Exodus 4:31 (NKJV)).
- Later, Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh, and they told Pharaoh what God had told them to say (Exodus 5:1, 3).
- Soon, we see Moses himself speaking to the Israelites and to Pharaoh (Exodus 6:9; 8:9, 26).
Despite this rocky start, Moses made it into the revered “Hall of Faith” and is remembered for the work that God did through him (Hebrews 11:24-28).
Just as God helped Moses, He will give you the “training wheels” you need to get started when you obediently step out in faith to do what God has called you to do. So when God gives you direction, step out in faith. Often God will not give you the next step or tell you where you are going until you obey and take that first step.
