For you were called to be free, brothers and sisters; only don’t use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement: Love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one another, watch out, or you will be consumed by one another.
Galatians 5:13–15
I say, then, walk by the Spirit and you will certainly not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit desires what is against the flesh; these are opposed to each other, so that you don’t do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Galatians 5:16-18
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambitions, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and anything similar. I am warning you about these things — as I warned you before — that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Galatians 5:19–21
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The law is not against such things.
Galatians 5:22–23
Then he told them many things in parables, saying, “Consider the sower who went out to sow. As he sowed, some seed fell along the path, and the birds came and devoured them. Other seed fell on rocky ground where it didn’t have much soil, and it grew up quickly since the soil wasn’t deep. But when the sun came up, it was scorched, and since it had no root, it withered away. Other seed fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it. Still other seed fell on good ground and produced fruit: some a hundred, some sixty, and some thirty times what was sown. Let anyone who has ears listen.”
Matthew 13:3–9
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:24–26
When you think of a “Christian” person, what qualities or characteristics come to mind? What does a Christian look like in the eyes of our culture? How does that differ from what should really define the life of Christian people?
Read Galatians 5:13-18. Describe a time when you’ve felt the internal tension between the “desire of the flesh” and walking “by the Spirit”?
Read Galatians 5:19-21. What do each of these “works of the flesh” have in common? How has your own sinful self orientation affected your life in a negative way? How about your relationships with your friends and family? Your marriage? Your parenting?
Read Galatians 5:22-23. What do all nine aspects of the “fruit of the Spirit” have in common? What impact do love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control have on our lives? How about our relationships with friends and family?
This week you will be confronted with multiple opportunities to choose between “walking by the Spirit” and “carrying out the desires of the flesh.” How will you handle these moments? What tools will you need (God’s Word, God’s people, God Himself the Holy Spirit, etc.) in order to “keep in step with the Spirit”? What voice(s) might you need to turn away from in order to best discern the voice of Jesus?
