Spirit Before Flesh

Walk not after the flesh.

Walk after the Spirit.

Rom 8:1  There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Imagine for a moment- what is it like to walk after the Spirit?

'Gal 5:22,23-'….love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance…'

We get in the way of the Spirit.  Our FLESH gets in the way.  When we CHOOSE to put our flesh first we are automatically pushing the Spirit out of the way.

It's not a matter of not being able to live to care for your own needs, if we didn't, we'd be absolutely no good to anyone else. No one is advocating you live a life like John the Baptist, stripped of all comforts wandering the deserts, the wilderness preaching. If all were called to such a life there would be no one to plant crops, tend to them, harvest them; there would be no one to tend sheep, etc, etc.  We are NOT all called to be preachers, teachers, evangelists. We ARE all called to walk after the Spirit in whatever life we are called to lead. How is it possible? By putting the Spirit before the flesh.

Spirit before flesh.

Love before self.

Joy before self.

Peace before self.

Longsuffering before self.

Gentleness before self.

Goodness before self.

Faith before self.

Meekness before self.

Temperance before self.

This is the SPIRIT before FLESH!

And we CHOOSE to put the Spirit before the Flesh, because we are MORTIFYING the flesh so the Spirit will live in us. And we are doing this THROUGH the Spirit.

Rom 8:13  For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

We can no more mortify the flesh by our flesh and live in the Spirit than we can save ourselves, it's impossible!

Our flesh is mortified by the Spirit which manifests in us when we choose to follow our Savior.   When we make that desire a living part of our lives, choosing our Savior over self, we are putting ourselves in the position for our Savior to send the Comforter to us, to live in us.  When we are faced with FLESH deeds we CAN'T flesh fight against the flesh deed itself, we must seek our SAVIOR! It is ONLY through our Savior that the Spirit can dwell in us.

The Spirit in us will give us the love, the joy, the peace, the longsuffering, the gentleness, the goodness, the faith, the meekness, the temperance we need. 

We must choose JESUS CHRIST OUR LORD AND SAVIOR FIRST!

SPIRIT before FLESH!  Jesus Christ our LORD before us!

By His mercy, love, and grace! All through Him in all things!

Amen!