The Flesh or the Spirit

Gal 6:7 NRSV - Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow. 8 If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh; but if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 9 So let us not grow weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest time, if we do not give up.

The title of today’s message is, “The Flesh or the Spirit”. The battle between the flesh and the Spirit has been going on since the beginning of man’s existence.

When Eve took the forbidden fruit, gave it to Adam and he ate, that started the conflict. Mankind was put out of the Garden of Eden, a flaming sword was put in place so they could not return and thus our lives and our relationship with God were forever changed.

In the beginning, Adam walked in the cool of the garden with God, but after the fall, the relationship was broken.

A broken relationship is a hard thing to repair, it’s an almost impossible thing to overcome. This is evident in the divorce rate in America. According to Modern Family Law, the average length of a marriage that ends in divorce is 8 years and the divorce rate is between 40%-50%.

Because they’ve been through it once, it becomes easier the second time around and the divorce rate for second marriages goes up significantly to between 60% - 67%.

And if they’re brave enough to try it again, the rate of divorce in third marriages is 70%.

What about in the church? Well, for those who profess to be believers, the average divorce rate is about 14% lower, but still that’s pretty high.

When you consider the family was the second relationship God created, second only to the relationship with him, those numbers are staggering.

So, when the enemy comes, aside from our souls, he’s coming for the very thing God holds most sacred for us, our relationships.

If we briefly go back to chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul gives us a list of what he calls the works of the flesh. The list includes fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.

On this list, there are only three things that don’t directly deal in relationships with others, but all of them will affect your relationship with God. This journey is not about religion, it’s about relationship.

If you don’t remember anything else about Love Christian Center, please remember this, we are about helping you to establish and build your relationship with God, not religion. Because here’s the thing, when you truly, love the Lord, when you’re sincerely trying to build and strengthen a relationship with him, you will strive to please him. And when you’re striving to please God, one of the things you’re not going to do is something that harms his people.

As such, we have a responsibility to and for one another. At the beginning of the sixth chapter, Paul says, “My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness.”

Be kind, even when they mess up. Correct them, but do it gently, because at the end of the encounter, at the end of the day, what is your objective? The objective should be to win or restore a soul, not to drive them away. Because here’s the thing, at some point in our lives, because we live in these fleshly bodies, the chances of it one day being us that messes up, us that falls, us that sins is coming and how would we want to be treated?

Paul says, “Take care that you yourselves are not tempted.” The enemy is going to tempt you with that thing you want more than anything else.

If you don’t smoke, it won’t be cigarettes. If you don’t drink, it won’t be alcohol. If you don’t deal with pornography, it won’t be pornography. But I guarantee you Satan is looking for the chink in your armor and that’s where he’ll eventually and consistently attack… that is until you grow and overcome in that area of your life.

Let’s go back to marriage. Too many marriages are destroyed because of lust of the eye, jealousy, and envy. Someone sees a relationship and they desire not just what that person has, they desire who that person has. And so they set out on a mission to first insert themselves into the relationship with the sole intention of destroying it.

Be careful, in the vows that couple took, in the covenant they made there’s a line that says, “What God has joined together, let no man or woman, put asunder”.

Take care that you are not tempted yourself. Someone else’s spouse may not be your temptation, you’re happy in your relationship, in your marriage, in your singleness.

Maybe you want a job someone else has and you devise a plan to sabotage them. Maybe you do something crazy so your child can get something. How many have heard of a parent hurting another child so theirs's can get something? An award, a position on a team, a spot on the cheerleading squad. Buying their children’s way into schools they didn’t qualify to attend, taking away an opportunity from another child who deserved to be there. It sounds crazy I know, but it happens.

We are to bear one another’s burdens, not increase them, that is the law of Christ. Help one another, look out for one another. If you’re married and trying to step out on your spouse, don’t do it in front of me, because I’m telling and I’m going to tell you I’m telling. But first I’m going to go up and introduce myself and ask about how your spouse is doing.

Now how I break the news, that may come with a how’s things going? You know I saw so and so with so and so in the mall the other day, and the conversation will go on from there. And if someone considers me a friend, I would want that same loyalty.

When I was in Japan without my husband, I had a friend who had my back. There was a group in the church I was attending, that’s right I said in the church, who were betting how long it would be before I fell. So when my male cousin, who was also in the military came to town and we were having dinner, my friend saw me, approached me and made introductions. She had my back, so when the news traveled through the grapevine that I was eating dinner with someone who wasn’t my husband, she could answer those who were scheming against me. You need people around you who’ve got your back and are not trying to put a knife in it. Watch who you hang with.

Paul really goes in, in this translation when he says, “For if those who are nothing think they are something, they deceive themselves.” That goes along with Romans 12:3 when he said, “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.”

Test your own work. Don’t compare what you do to someone else’s work.

When you compare yourself to others it can lead to an inferiority complex. It can leave you feeling like you’re not good enough or that you’re constantly falling short.

Comparing yourself to others can breed feelings of envy and jealousy when you see what you perceive as their success and now you’re no longer satisfied with your own situation, you become discontent with your life.

Comparing yourself to others can cause you to create unrealistic standards for yourself. Especially in this world of social media. People desiring to be influencers, posting videos of themselves in what appears to be success. Showing themselves with all the labels, but what you don’t know is they’re, the correct term for it now is, unhoused. They’re sleeping on a friend’s sofa, because instead of paying their rent, they bought a purse and some shoes and some clothes, made and posted a video online to make you think their life is so wonderful.

Comparing yourself to others distracts from your own journey because instead of focusing on what God has given you, instead focusing on your gifts and talents, you’re busy looking at what someone else has, what someone else can do. So now your progress is hindered because you’re not doing what you were designed to do.

Comparing yourself to others is also how people fall, it’s how they will justify or categorize their sin.

They’ll say things like, “Well at least I didn’t do what she did.” or “Well what I did wasn’t as bad as what he did.” or “I didn’t do it as many times as they did it.” or “I could’ve done it better than them.”

Comparison is the thief of joy. When you are constantly comparing yourself to others, you will never be happy, you’ll never have joy because you’re in a constant state of what coulda, shoulda, woulda. You fail to see what God has blessed you with because you’re too busy looking at, lusting after, envying over someone else’s blessing. STOP IT!

You don’t know what their marriage, their life, their success, their blessing cost them.

You don’t know the trials and tribulations they went through to get to where they are.

You don’t know how many days they turned the plate down in fasting.

You don’t know how many sleepless nights they were up praying.

You don’t know how many tears they cried.

You don’t know their story, so don’t covet their glory.

We all have a load to carry, we all have a burden to bear. Focus on yours and leave them and theirs to God.

Why, because dear heart, Paul says, “Do not be deceived; God is not mocked, for you reap whatever you sow.” God sees your plan. He knows your heart and he knows your intentions. You may think you’re fooling others, you may even be fooling yourself, but God sees and God knows the intent of your heart. That can be good thing, but it can be a not so good thing.

What are you sowing? Do you really understand and believe that whatever seeds you sow, what you plant, is what you’re going to harvest?

If you sow discord, envy, and strife then that’s what’s going to surround you.

But if you sow love, grace, and peace, then that’s what’s going to surround you.

You don’t plant apple seeds and get an orange tree.

If you sow to your own flesh, you will reap corruption from the flesh. Don’t allow your flesh to get you into things, and situations, that the Holy Spirit will have to deliver you out of.

Certain places you go, people you associate with, things or people you bring into your home may also come with spirits attached. Spirits you don’t want. Be careful what and who you allow in your space.

But, if you sow to the Spirit, you will reap eternal life from the Spirit. What a contrast.

The flesh brings with it death, while the Spirit brings with him eternal life. It’s your choice.

With all of that being said, “let us not grow weary in doing what is right,” that may sound simple, but when you’ve got people and situations coming at you that seek to destroy your peace, doing what is right, can be a challenge.

But, if you keep fasting, you can do it.

If you keep praying, you can do it.

If you keep studying, you can do it.

If you keep meditating, you can do it.

If you keep putting God first, you can do it.

If you make Jesus the center of your joy, you can do it.

If you believe God can, you can do it.

If you believe God will, you can do it.

If you give yourself to Jesus, you can do it.

If you trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not to your own understanding, you can do it. Because when you do that, God will give you the desires of your heart. When you do that, the desires of your heart will not seek to destroy the joy of others.

So, if you, then God will. It’s called a conditional promise.

If you confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, then you will be saved. For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.

If you, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teach them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded. Then remember that Jesus will always with you, even to the end of the age.

If you don’t grow weary in doing what is right, then you will reap at harvest time, if you do not give up.

Giving up; is easy,

not coming to church; is easy,

not committing yourself to the Lord; is easy,

not giving a tithe; is easy,

not helping your brother or sister; is easy,

not having their back; is easy,

walking away; is easy

But when you’re striving to not be conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God—that can be hard.

When it’s time for Sunday school and everything in you, which in reality is the enemy whispering in your ear

you’re tired, don’t get up

this is your only day off, rest

they don’t need you today

they won’t miss you if you’re not there

God has plenty of people

Someone else can do it, you don’t have to

pushing through those whispers, can be hard.

When you don’t have enough money to pay your bills, tithing can be hard.

Not wanting to feel like your causing a problem for your friend in their relationship so telling them the truth, can be hard.

When you’re an introvert telling others about the goodness of the Lord, can be hard.

Staying in your marriage when you’re not happy, can be hard. But hang on in there, if you can weather the storm, this too shall pass.

Find yourself in the 50% to 60% of marriages that make it 10, 20, 30, or like me and my Boo 44-years.

The flesh will rail against God’s design, but the Spirit will carry you through.

The flesh will say walk away, find someone new, you don’t need this aggravation, but the Spirit says

Love is patient;

love is kind;

love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.

Love does not insist on its own way;

Love is not irritable or resentful;

Love doesn’t rejoice in wrongdoing,

Love rejoices in the truth.

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

True Love never ends.

The flesh will say get you a side chick, but the Spirit says, “Drink water from your own well—share your love only with your wife. Why spill the water of your springs in the streets, having sex with just anyone? You should reserve it for yourselves. Never share it with strangers. Let your wife be a fountain of blessing for you. Rejoice in the wife of your youth.

The flesh will say girl leave him, but the Spirit says (and I said it last week) the Spirit says, wives, your godly life will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent life. You be the example of what the love of Jesus looks like.

The flesh says marriage is 50-50, but the Spirit says it’s 100-100. You’ve got to give it your all.

Jesus came in the flesh, but he was sinless. Through it all, Jesus was our perfect example of how to walk through this life sowing to the Spirit.

He knew his mission and he fulfilled it, even enduring death on the cross.

But death was not the end for him, on the third day he got up with all power in his hands. He overcame death, hell, and the grave, so that we would have the opportunity for eternal life.

He endured life in the flesh so we could experience the joy of the Spirit. So we could witness his resurrection power. So we would know that death is not the end.

Jesus sowed seeds of love and healing and tolerance and generosity and blessings and deliverance and peace.

What are you sowing? Be assured that’s what you’ll reap.

If you’ve had enough discord and dissention and irritation and reveling and just unhappiness in general, change the seeds you’re sowing.

To do so will most likely require

a change in the way you think

a change in the way you talk

a change in the people you associate with

a change in the places you go

a change in how you treat others.

Whenever we have an opportunity, let us work for the good of all, and especially for those of the family of faith.

If we can’t come together and show godly love for one another, which by the way is how we’ll be identified by the world, what are we doing?

We are called to be the light of the world, the salt of the Earth, that city that sits up on the hill for all to see.

When the unsaved walk into the church, are they walking into the same atmosphere they walked out of when they left the club last night?

When the woman who’s being abused in her home walks into the church, is she met with the same critical, judgmental look and attitude she just escaped from because she’s not dressed how you deem is appropriate?

When the young people come through the doors, are they met with the old adage of children should be seen and not heard?

Are we allowing our flesh to rule our lives, our behaviors, our thoughts, our words, our deeds or are we allowing the Spirit to reign supreme?

The bottom line is, if you want something different, you have to do something different.

If you’ve never accepted Jesus as your personal Lord and Savior, yes it’s personal, remember, this is about relationship, so if that’s you, your something different can begin right now and it begins with a prayer.

Father God, I confess I’m a sinner, I have been sowing to my flesh. I believe that Jesus is your Son and that he died for my sins. Jesus, please come into my heart, I give you my life so that I can be like you, so I can sow to the Spirit. In your name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed that prayer for the first time, or even the second or just again, welcome to the family and welcome back, send us a message and let us know so we can pray with and for you, I promise we won’t spam you.

Now find yourself a Bible believing, Bible teaching church where you can learn how you can sow to the Spirit and reap eternal life.

If you live in the Douglasville, GA vicinity we’d love to see you at 3500 Hwy 5, Sunday School begins at 8:45 and Worship service begins at 10. If you can’t make here to the church, you can join us live on zoom, see our website for the zoom codes to join us for the full service.

Please consider becoming a financial partner of this ministry, your gift will be used to advance and support things such as our food pantry ministry, where we give away free food to anyone who comes, but there is a cost to us.

Please pray this government shut down ends soon because it even affects the source we get our food from to give to those in need.

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