Living in the Spirit

July 10, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:1-11

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do: by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and to deal with sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, so that the just requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 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 set their minds on the things of the Spirit. To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God. –Romans 8:1-8

Paul speaks of choice sustained and maintained by practice. Doing good grows more good. Evil acts beget more evil Paul simplifies choice by clusters. One is the cluster of the Spirit, the other the cluster of the flesh. We are more apt to think in terms of good and evil or right and wrong. Our example is Adam and Eve being removed from the Garden of Eden for disobeying God by eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Another example is Jesus’s sojourn in the wilderness with Satan, where he is tempted by wealth, which provides food to eat, power, and testing God, and he withstood each temptation.

If we chose the Spirit, we are gifted with the grace of God and the guidance of the Spirit to help us be faithful to our choice. Jesus nor Paul discount the constant power of the flesh working to dissuade us from being steadfast in maintaining our Spirit choice.

The continuous practice part of choice is the challenge. During this pandemic, it is interesting to see how athletes have worked to stay in shape for when they return to play. One of the things I noticed is that some basketball players who were in the last half of their season first took the time to heal the various injuries that plague their bodies just through the routine of playing game after game. We, too, need to seek spiritual sabbaths to let our souls heal from the everyday press of serving God. Once healed, those athletes found ways to exercise and rebuild their bodies to return to competitive playing. Similarly, we practice spiritual disciplines to restore and sustain our souls.

The discipline of self-evaluation is crucial. We often do not realize when we slip into bad habits that disconnect us from God. For example, while we may not think we are contributing to the racial divide in our country, what are we doing to heal it? We may regularly donate to a food bank, and that is good, but what are we doing to end poverty? I routinely recycle, but I know very little about the general issues of climate change and what I can do further to address them.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for the gifts of the Spirit, help us to delve deeper in how we can practice our spiritual gifts toward your justice. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.