What leader do you follow?

by | Posted October 18th at 7:30am

Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16

Every child grows up learning to play the “Follow the Leader” game. This seemingly innocent pastime reflects our innate tendency to follow. Whether we realize it or not, we are all followers of something or someone. ¹

As his logical, deductive mind did so often, the apostle Paul boiled down the “following” tendency into two significant categories: We can follow the flesh (energized by Satan, the enemy of God) or the Spirit of God. To follow one means we are not following the other (Luke 16:13). And we are never in the “neutral” zone where we are not following one or the other. From the point in life at which we develop the conscious ability to make moral and spiritual choices, we are in the following mode.

The “flesh,” in Paul’s terminology, is our natural (fallen) human instincts, oriented to self-serving and self-gratification. That’s what we follow if we are not following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Contrast this to the following of the Spirit: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. – Galatians 5:22-23 ESV

The only way not to follow the desires of the flesh is to follow the desires of the Spirit. Live in the choosing mode today, and choose wisely: Follow the Spirit of God. I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16

One of the key indicators of a godly life is peacefulness.

Suggested Article:  Practicing Peacefulness

The wisdom of the flesh is always exclaiming against the mysteries of God. – John Calvin

^{1 Concept derived from: Leadership, by John C. Maxwell}

Article posted by Glen R. Jackman, founder of GraceProclaimed.org

Glen has optimized his eldership role to teach the full scope of the New Covenant of Jesus Christ without boundaries.
You can read his testimony.