Galatians 5: Selfishness vs Selfless Living

The spiral affect of these two little words… goes deeper than we realize…

NOT ENOUGH

Am I doing ENOUGH

Am I giving ENOUGH

Am I becoming ENOUGH

And when these questions go unanswered the spiral begins… we turn INWARD

We start managing our lives…. Protecting our time… guarding our energy

Because anything that is limited must be managed and restricted… so if I’m NOT ENOUGH… I better take care of ME FIRST, and this is the spiral that begins to reshape everything

-Relationships become transactional

-Generosity becomes conditional

-purpose becomes personal

And without realizing it….. live becomes centered around ME….

Galatians 5:16–17

“16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.”

This is the tension…

-The Flesh Pulls INWARD (self-protection, self focus, self reliance)

-The Spirit pushes OUTWARD (surrender, trust , humility…. Self less living )

Review:

Last week we talked about the flesh doesn’t always shout REBELION… sometimes it whispers RELIGION, it isn’t always about SIN… often its about SELF RELIANCE…

If the flesh leads us to self reliance, the fruit of self reliance is SELFISH LIVING

Because if its up to me… then life becomes about

-my needs

-my comfort

-my control

-my outcome

Selfish living vs Self less living…. Spirit vs Flesh… the tension

1.) A Self-Centered Life Will Always End in NOT ENOUGH

The more your life is about YOU… the less your life will make sense

The More your life is about you… the more you will hear those two words… NOT ENOUGH

Look at what Solomon said

Ecclesiastes 2:10–11

“10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labour, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind. nothing was gained under the sun.”

the fact is this…. You were not created to be the center…. GOD IS

the flesh will always make you the center… YOU WILL BE LIKE GOD…YOU will be the CENTER

The Spirit will always make GOD THE CENTER….

I know most of us didn’t walk into this room thinking we are inherently selfish, but its amazing how the flesh creeps in and leads us away from the spirit

Romans 11:36–12:3

“36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory for ever! Amen.

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.”

The flesh and the spirit FIGHT for the center for the focus of your life…. What you feed lives…

When life is about you it will always feel disoriented

2.) The Flesh CONSUMES, the Spirit CONTRIBUTES

The FLESH consumes what it didn’t CREATE, the SPIRIT contributes to what GOD is building

The FLESH is driven by appetite, the SPIRIT is led by assignment

The FLESH lives to be filled, the SPIRIT lives to be poured out

The FLESH measures life by what it receives, the SPIRIT measures life by what it RELEASES

Simply put… the FLESH CONSUMES

Philippians 3:18–19

“18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things.”

“Their god is their stomach”…. Your appetite becomes your authority…

Some of us are living HANGRY not HOLY… we live frustrated not faithful… because we have allowed the appetite of the FLESH to become the authority of our lives….

We live by NOT ENOUGH, so we consume, we preserve, we protect…

THE SPIRIT CONTRIBUTES

John 7:38

“38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.’”

When we live by the spirit, we are the river of living water to the people, the community around us… we’re bring LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANTLY….

The flesh always ask WHAT CAN I GET

The Spirit always ask WHAT CAN I GIVE

3.) The FLESH makes NOISE, the SPIRIT makes a difference

I don’t want my life to just make noise, I want to MAKE A DIFFERENCE…. I don’t want to live in the world… I want to change the world… I don’t want to build a comfortable life… I want to build a meaningful life

We all experience this tension… we all experience this struggle… the flesh pulls and pulls and screams and screams

It makes noise, and there is certainly a lot of noise in the world right now

Ephesians 2:10

“10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.”

You are meant to make a difference, and the flesh is calling you to make NOISE

You weren’t just saved FROM something, You were saved FOR something

**Welcome to the team -

**First Saturday Serve

MAKE A DIFFERNCE…. Or MAKE NOISE… Flesh or the spirit

Jesus came to SERVE

Mark 10:45

“45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.’”

The HOLY SPIRIT empowers us to MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Acts 1:8

“8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”

4.) The FLESH is Selfish, the Spirit is Self-less

Philippians 2:3–5

“3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

Selfless living isn’t NATURAL… its SUPER NATURAL… its from the SPIRIT

It’s not behavior modification… its SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATION

-where has my life become about me

-where am I protecting instead of pouring out

-where am I consuming instead of contributing

Galatians 5:16

“16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”

SALVATION

The flesh wants to control.. the flesh wants to be the appetite of your life and drive your life… the flesh consumes, and the flesh ends in NOT ENOUGH… The only answer is the work of the cross.. the work of the resurrection.. the work of the SPIRIT>…

You get to choose, THE flesh or the spirit

Not enough…. Or JESUS IS ENOUGH

CHARGE:

Allow the lord to show you where your life has become selfish