Walking in the Spirit and not in the Flesh

by | Oct 4, 2024 | Life and Faith

Do we often have a more carnal way of thinking or a Spirit way of thinking?

We know we are called to live in the Spirit and not in the flesh, but what does that actually mean, and do we actually do it?

There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. – Romans 8:1

Yes! Such a hopeful verse! There is no condemnation for those who are in CHRIST JESUS! But brothers and sisters, are we truly walking like Jesus lives on the inside of us? Or are we still in bondage to this flesh that we fight?

Romans goes on…

“For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [d]through His Spirit who dwells in you.” Romans 8:5-11

To live in the Spirit is LIFE and PEACE! But so often we settle for less… So how can we break out of the flesh cycle?

First, we have to define what the flesh actually is! 

So what are the deeds of the flesh?

  1. Sinful passions – “For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.” Romans 7:5
  2. All of these things (yikes): “Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: [d]adultery, [e]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, [f]murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
    Galatians 5:19-21
  3. The OPPOSITE of the fruits of the Spirit as Galations 5 points out.
  4. Being Carnally Minded – Letting our mind wander into worry, fear, anxiety, etc… Not focused on the Kingdom but more focused on our own needs and desires. 
  5. SELFISHNESS – a yielding to demonic powers. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom.  But if you have bitter envy and [a]self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.  This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.  For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there.  But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. 18 Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” James 3:13-18

So I don’t know about you, but I have a lot of “flesh stuff” to work on… Because I fall into multiple categories of giving into my flesh over my Spirit in these areas… But there is hope when we have Jesus! And spoiler alert – he didn’t leave us alone to fight our flesh.

Why is it important to keep our flesh in check?

  1. The Spirit and the flesh are at war. If we want to win the war, our Spirit MUST be louder than our flesh and we must “put to death, the deeds of the flesh.”
    “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.” Galatians 5:16-18
  2. It cleanses us so we can be more like Jesus: “Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 1 Corinthians 7:1
  3. To better LOVE others: “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13
  4. To be effective Ambassadors of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk [c]properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy.  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” Romans 13:11-14
    1. People will not want to follow your life if your life looks like it’s falling apart.
    2. People will not want to follow your life if you have no joy and live in a constant state of negativity, anxiousness and worry.
    3. This world will have trouble, and YOU will have trouble… but how do you react in the face of trouble? How is your attitude? Your outlook? Your hope? How do you think people view you when you are walking through a troubling situation?

Let’s think about a few scenarios of different people you may encounter…

*** I work with Becky – She is pretty nice and keeps a Bible on her desk. She doesn’t flaunt it, but I can see it there behind a stack of messy papers. Becky is nice enough and she works hard, but she is constantly worried about something. She seems so anxious all the time. Whether it’s her cat Pebbles, the news, her kid in NYC, her financial situation, etc. it just never ends. Most of the time when we talk, it’s about her problems. She will bring cookies into work, which are delicious (even though she denies it). And I do appreciate that she takes her time to do that, I just wish she would stop being so negative. It always seems worse case scenario with her… My conversations with Becky are limited, because she and her problems can be exhausting.

***I’m friends with my neighbor Jim. Jim’s a family guy and keeps his yard nice and tidy. Jim has a VERY nice truck. He has a tradition of washing it on Saturday and squeaking it out of the driveway early Sunday morning to go to church. He is quick to greet you with a smile and talk to you about your day, but he is also quick to show off his newest purchases or talk about all his savvy business dealings. If I have a story, he probably has a better one. Been there, done that… but better.  I enjoy my conversations with Jim, andI know he has my back, but after conversations with Jim I usually walk away frustrated or feeling like I am lesser. I just can’t keep up with him, and he makes that pretty obvious.

*** Jerry is the life of the party, but Jerry is also the guy that you are going to have to drive home…  He says, “Jesus loves everyone” so that’s cool, I guess. And I guess I should just love him where he is at, but Jerry seems to really take advantage of me as a friend. here’s the thing – Jerry cannot keep a job to save his life, besides the job of professional couch surfer. I was happy to help when he needed a place to stay, but Jerry was the biggest slob I have ever met. He rarely showered, probably because he didn’t really have anywhere to go, but did dress nice for church on Sundays. Jerry would often leave his dishes in the sink and his clothes all over the floor. He would complain about his job situation but also refuse to work jobs that were in his words, “below his pay grade.” Eventually I had to kick Jerry out of the house. He said I was being “unloving,” but he just became too difficult to live with.

***Can we relate with some of the behaviors in these stories with our own habits? Would people want to follow our example if we exhibited these behaviors in our own lives?***

It is NOT enough to read the word, we must do what it says. We must WALK in the spirit and put to death the deeds of the flesh. There is no place for it in the Kingdom. We cannot properly love people if we are mainly operating in our flesh. 

  • “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.” James 1:23-24


So how do we win the fight?

  1. Submit to God, Resist the enemy

Many times the enemy will tempt us to give into our fleshly desires. But in James it says, “Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” We must do some RESISTING. We must CHOOSE to obey Jesus and thus walk in the LIFE and PEACE that he gives. Denying our flesh will not be easy, but we must “take up our cross” and follow Jesus. But you can be assured that when we submit ourselves to God – HE will fight the battle and we can stop striving in our own strength. 

  1. Stop Fighting Flesh with Flesh. 

Often times we try to fight the flesh with well… more flesh! If we try to “get motivated” for our own pride or out of guilt or compulsion, then we are fighting in our own human strength. Then we get frustrated because our human (or fleshly) efforts accomplish nothing. We can ONLY overcome the flesh by the Spirit. We must invite the Spirit of God into our daily routines and habits. WALKing in the Spirit is about keeping in step with the Spirit… asking for patience in a difficult situation, praying for faith in the midst of fear… stopping to think and pray before we speak those harsh words, etc… Step by step trying to do His will above our own desires.

John 6:36 says, “The Spirit alone gives life, Human effort accomplishes NOTHING…” 

Our flesh IS WEAK! We must PRAY to stay strong in the Spirit. 

Jesus knows that the Spirit is willing but our flesh is weak… 

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find.” Romans 7:18

Look, we are all going to fail! Even Jesus says our flesh is weak, and He provides grace for us (praise the Lord). But that grace should be a motivator to staying the course and fighting the good fight.

  1. Get used to being uncomfortable – YOUR comfort is NOT the goal

In our fast paced world, we often forget that Jesus is the source of our LIFE and PEACE find ourselves searching and yearning for other comforts to ease stress. This can come in many forms.

  • Food
  • Social media
  • Binging TV shows
  • Staying hidden away from people
  • Sexual pleasures
  • Venting or gossiping to friends
  • Substance abuse
  • Shopping / Overspending, etc.


YOUR COMFORT IS NOT THE GOAL. Jesus said “take up your cross and follow me.” Putting any of these things before God become idolatry. Proverbs warns against those who love pleasure.

Those who love pleasure become poor; those who love wine and luxury will never be rich. Proverbs 21:17

We must recognize that aiming for pleasure is a trap that will only lead to harm. 

The good news is – that Jesus really DOES want to comfort and restore us, but that restoration comes through HIM, and HIM alone. 

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30

And since we know Jesus likes to turn tables, let’s remember that Jesus also turned the tables on what ACTUALLY brings us life… It sounds contradictory, but TRUE LIFE comes through our sacrifice to Jesus. Jesus brought life through HIS sacrifice and he says that our sacrifices will actually bring us LIFE as well. 

Matthew 10:39 says, “If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

So the question is… what do we need to sacrifice on the altar to Jesus? 

Church… we have work to do… as I write this I realize I have MUCH work to do… But can we shift our mindset? We cannot do this “work” in our own efforts. What an utter waste of time and frustration. We must rely on the Spirit of God and HIS help for every area of our lives. Does it require our obedience to what He is asking us to do? Yes. Does it require effort on our part to resist temptation? Yes. Will we have to make some tough choices? You bet. But let’s invite the Holy Spirit to help us. He truly does LIVE on the inside of us as our helper and comforter.  

And the evidence of the Spirit in our lives will be the fruit of our lives. You (and others) will be able to see… more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-26).

Aren’t you exhausted? Overwhelmed? Are you ready to stop trying to do this all in your own strength?

Prayer: Holy Spirit, fill me with your power to WILL and to DO your good pleasure. YOU live on the inside of me. Help me walk in that freedom that you give. Lead me out of any temptation from the enemy or my own flesh. I have the Spirit and mind of Christ on the inside of me.

Survey:

  1. What is something chaotic in my life that needs to be put in order? _________________________________________________________________________
  2. What have I spent more time worrying about than praying about? _________________________________________________________________________
  3. What do I do that is excessive or compulsive? _________________________________________________________________________
  4. Am I holding onto unforgiveness and/or do I need to reconcile with someone? _________________________________________________________________________
  5. On a scale of 1 to 10 (1 being the worst and 10 being the best) how would I evaluate the health of the words that I speak? ______
  1. What Scriptures or Promises from God can I hold onto to strengthen my faith?

(Put them on the back)

  1. What rolls around in my head most often that makes me anxious or worried?
    _________________________________________________________________________
  1. Has God told me to do something that I’m not doing? _________________________________________________________________________
  1. Do I need to let go of something I have been holding onto? _________________________________________________________________________
  2. What (or who) do I often run to in order to comfort myself? _______________________________
  3. What is ONE thing I could do to improve my relationship with God? _________________________________________________________________________

I commit to prayerfully put these things before the Lord and allow Him to lead me in these areas. I know human effort accomplishes nothing, so I commit my ways before the Lord and allow him to help me as I seek Him about these things.

  1. This month I will prioritize: __________________________________________
  2. This month I will give up or limit: _____________________________________
  3. I will spend 10 minutes a day: _______________________________________

*When I fail, I know that the Lord has grace, and I will get back up and try again the next day. I will not let one failure discourage me, for the Lord is with me, and I am more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. Even though I will stumble, I run as one who is running for the prize.