A Worthy Guide
Is it possible to live a life that honors God? Is it achievable to train our minds and bodies to do what we know is right—instead of feeling powerless against temptation?
Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia is a guide for such questions:
“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.”
Galatians 5:16
Without surrendering and submitting to God’s lead, our sinful nature is at war with what God has for us.
Left to ourselves, we crave what the world desires. And the more we give into our unique shades of temptation, the more we crave (like craving sweets for the sugar, or craving pornography for the dopamine rush). But with the help of the Holy Spirit, who softens and molds and reshapes our hearts, we can learn to crave what God’s deemed best.
To put it simply, the secret to living a godly life is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit just so happens to be God—one of the three persons of the Trinity: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus has already done the hard and beautiful work of salvation—by living, dying, and rising again for the sake of His children—but now He wants to continue His mighty work in us and through us.
If it sounds impossible, it is impossible—if you’re fighting by yourself. But, as Jesus told His disciples, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:27 NIV) The psalmist also brought another valuable perspective, writing, “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word.” (Psalms 119:9 NIV)
When we cling to His Word, which was inspired by the Holy Spirit, it’s not only possible—but also probable—to live a life that honors Him.
Psalm 55
English Standard Version
Cast Your Burden on the Lord
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. A Maskil[a] of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
and hide not yourself from my plea for mercy!
2 Attend to me, and answer me;
I am restless in my complaint and I moan,
3 because of the noise of the enemy,
because of the oppression of the wicked.
For they drop trouble upon me,
and in anger they bear a grudge against me.
4 My heart is in anguish within me;
the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling come upon me,
and horror overwhelms me.
6 And I say, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest;
7 yes, I would wander far away;
I would lodge in the wilderness; Selah
8 I would hurry to find a shelter
from the raging wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, divide their tongues;
for I see violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it
on its walls,
and iniquity and trouble are within it;
11 ruin is in its midst;
oppression and ...