Read: Matthew 22:36-40, John 15:12-14, and Galatians 5:16-24
36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:36-40)
12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:12-14)
16 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 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. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:16-24)
When you see a person walking slumped over, shuffling, more than walking, what do you assume? The person is sad, depressed, discouraged.
If you see a person walking with shoulders back, chin up slightly, a smiled playing at the corners of his/her mouth, what do you think about them? They are happy, proud, maybe excited.
You can tell a lot about a person by their walk. Are they nervous, tired, excited, late, confused? It will probably be seen in the way they walk.
Paul knew that was true in our spiritual life. He called the Galatians to “walk by the Spirit” rather than walking by the flesh. How does he distinguish between the two?
What are the kinds of things that would show up in a person’s walk to signify they walk by the Spirit?
If someone watched your walk, what would they see? Are there areas you struggle to walk by the Spirit and not the flesh? What are ways you can find victory over that?
Jesus often sent the disciples out two-by-two. Is there someone in your life walking with you as you follow Jesus? Having a person praying and walking with us can make a huge difference in our lives. If you don’t have that person, ask Jesus to lead you to someone!