Galatians – Chapter Five XXII

by Ed Urzi

“I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16).

How can someone pursue a Christ-oriented life and avoid fulfilling the lusts of the flesh? Well, Galatians 5:16 provides us with the answer: “…walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh” (NAS).

“Walking in the Spirit” implies that we should make steady progress in our relationship with God just as we do whenever we are walking towards a destination. Although walking is often slow and not very exciting, it is a mode of travel that is available to virtually anyone and helps builds other positive characteristics like strength and endurance. These qualities are important for good spiritual growth and serve us well in our relationships with others.

Nevertheless, its important to recognize that walking also involves an element of risk. You see, there is always a possibility that we may stumble whenever we begin to walk. For instance, we may stumble as a result of our carelessness or we may stumble unexpectedly. Sometimes we stumble because we are in an unfamiliar place or begin to move too quickly. There are other times when we may stumble because we lack the experience or maturity needed to travel a specific path.

Much like a child who is learning to walk or a professional athlete who falls while attempting to make a play, its reasonable to expect that we may occasionally stumble as we walk in the Spirit. Although it is never good to stumble, its important to remember that “getting back up” is more important than falling down. If we should ever stumble as we seek to walk in the Spirit, the New Testament epistle of 1 John tells us how to get back up: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (NIV).

One effective way to avoid stumbling in our relationship with God is to travel the path followed by the first-century Christians of Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer” (CSB). These four qualities – prayer, reading God’s Word, regular church attendance, and communion- are certain to help us advance in the grace and knowledge of Christ and leave the flesh-oriented life behind.

Remember that a person who stands still will never stumble, but that person will not make any progress and may never get to God’s intended destination.