A Double Life
I had a dog.
Her name was Buffy.
She lived a double life.
Half of her life, she lived OUT of control, yanked around by squirrels. She could not say no to their requests to chase them, and she could not say no to her desire for the pleasure of catching one.
The other half of her life, she lived IN control, yanked around by no human. I brought her to obedience classes, but she had her own agenda. She let no one interfere with what, when, or how she wanted to do things.
I understand Buffy's double life all too well.
I, too, have lived OUT of control, yanked around by people's requests and my own desires for pleasure.
I, too, have lived IN control, setting my own agenda and making sure no one interfered with the plans Me, Myself, and I had made.
Praise be to God, He has provided another way for us to live!
Paul tells us that because "those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires" (Galatians 5:24), they no longer have to "gratify the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:16) Paul is not saying that once we belong to Christ, we no longer have the flesh's passions and desires. He is saying that the Cross of Christ put to death the flesh's ability to call the shots in our life, and now that we belong to Christ, God's Spirit produces within us the ability (and the responsibility) to say no to the flesh and yes to the Spirit.
We no longer have to live OUT of control or IN control.
We can now live UNDER the control of the Holy Spirit.
When we submit ourselves to God's gracious gift of his Spirit, the fruit that is produced is self-control. The life of self-control that God's Spirit produces, harnesses, and masters our fleshly desires to live for other people, our own pleasure, and our own agenda. This life is different from the life of self-discipline in that self-discipline lives IN control for the sake of one's self, while the life of self-control lives UNDER the control of God's Spirit for the glory of God.
The life of self-control that God's Spirit produces within us enables us to respond to the challenges of life with the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and gentleness of Christ Himself. It is a life of human flourishing that glorifies God. "There is no law" that can produce such a life. (Galatians 5:23) Only the gracious gift of God's Spirit can produce such a life.
"If we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:25)