But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
I was chatting with my neighbor the other day, an elderly gentleman, and he said something that stuck in my mind.
“Now I’m not a church going man, but I believe in the Man upstairs. Temptation is a devil and if you have no self-control, you’re being controlled by the devil.”
That hit me hard.
Thing is, we often face spiritual battles, of which we blame every external source imaginable. I’m guilty of this. But, God creates a way of escape for every temptation.
Sometimes, hindsight is 20/20. We see what we could’ve, should’ve done, said, not done, not said… Again, I’m guilty of this. But, my friends, this is why we must be strong in the Lord, pray for the fruit of the Spirit, so that when we are tried, we can resist temptation. We can flee from it. When we are full of God’s Holy Spirit and the things of God, edifying and feeding our spirits, not our flesh, it becomes second nature to put our flesh under subjection to Christ Jesus. It becomes easier to resist temptation. Speaking from personal experience.
Sometimes our appetites are carnal. What you crave in the flesh may not be what the next person, or what I crave. But let me tell you this… I know Someone who has Living Water that we can drink from and never be thirsty again. He is the Bread of Life and once we taste it, we will never hunger again.
*Original image courtesy of Yours Truly☀️🤍🌸
On the Outside Looking In 