Sweet Little Lies

“But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

~Galatians 5:16-21

When my kids were little the first thing they learned to do was lie to me. As soon as they could toddle around the house and get into things, they began to lie, and it continued into the teenage years. When they were very young, I thought it was funny, cute even. I could watch them do something, ask them if they did it, and they would say “no.” They also began to hide the evidence of their little baby crimes. “Did you take that cookie I said you couldn’t have?” Immediately, the cookie went behind their back, “No.” Even though their face was covered in cookie, they lied to me. As they got older, their crimes got larger. Telling me they were going one place but going somewhere else, sneaking out of the house, smoking cigarettes, drinking, and all the other things teens do that apparently, parents never did and are too stupid to figure out. The very things I did, and my parents did, and presumably, my grandparents did.

As we get older, we do learn right from wrong, and we develop a sense of personal morals and justice. But some people are just really good at ignoring what’s right and wrong and moral and just. Instead, they choose to continue to gratify their own desires no matter the cost to others, or even to themselves. But when they get caught, it’s never their fault. Someone else is to blame. Society, the cops, the judge, their mama—the blame always lies outside of their responsibility. On the other hand, a life in Christ is contrary to that thinking. A life in Christ is absolute responsibility for everything we say and do. From the thoughts we think to the words we say to the actions we take—Christ holds us responsible. Right down to our souls, we are responsible for choosing the right way to go, for choosing to humble ourselves and ask Christ to forgive our sins, and then to live for Him, and share Him with others. A life in Christ goes against our very nature.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And 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 (Galatians 5:22-25).”

If you’ve read the story of Christ’s arrest and subsequent death, you know crucifixion is a hard way to go, yet we are told to crucify the flesh along with its passions and desires. We are to crush those desires, get rid of them, and never look at them again. The desires of the flesh are nothing but trouble and cause us a lifetime of pain and suffering. It is only through a personal relationship with Christ that we can overcome our flesh and live by the Spirit. And through His death and resurrection, we can keep in step with the Spirit all the way through this life and into Heaven. Every choice we make, good or bad, has consequences. Living for the flesh leads to death and an eternity in hell. Living for the Lord leads to life and an eternity in Heaven. When you choose an action, you are choosing the consequence. Choose wisely.

“For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God (1 John 5:4-5)?”

Read Isaiah 43-48

© 2018 Marie McGaha