The Walk of the Spirit

It strikes me while reviewing my journal this morning from back in January, that the Walk of the Spirit is so much different than anything remotely like religion….it is also (at least from my experience) so easy to misunderstand. The walk of the Spirit is living life from day to day controlled not by a set of principles or rules or disciplines, but by the living presence of Jesus Christ. It is not about doing this or that (i.e. reading the Bible, praying, going to church or Bible study). It is also not about avoiding specific things… (like not falling, not lusting, not cursing, not worrying). Those are all good and appropriate sediments for a follower of Christ, but they are a ‘god’ of religion in themselves if they become the goal of our “Christian walk”. Following Jesus and living in the Spirit is about transforming belief and trust in Jesus Christ and it is totally something that we are incapable of perfecting in ourselves… we can express our deepest desire to have it take place in us, but ultimately it is the Lord who tunes and tweaks our hearts to live in this right relationship to Him. Could it be that living in the Spirit is about living above the daily grind of falling and repenting and falling and repenting?—your focus is consumed with something so much greater than trivial disciplines. Your life simply becomes a discipline of worshipping Jesus Christ. This flows out of you in the form of agape love toward your brothers and sisters and to those outside the Body of Christ.

It comes to my mind while reading Galatians 5 where Paul is speaking about Freedom in Christ that walking in the Spirit is in a category alone by itself—it really is above this whole plane of dos and don’ts. It doesn’t run in parallel with either human nature or with the rule and principle based approach of the Law. Those are both left in the dust as we stand before Christ as a new creature. On the one hand we are released from the death-grip of our sinful natures, yet on the other hand we are also above the condemnation of not measuring up to religion. Yes, we will still make mistakes (at times real doosies), but as long as we keep refocusing our eyes on Jesus, we will never loose our joy or our peace and sense of belonging as children of God. That is the wonderful good news of Jesus Christ!