Keep in Step with the Spirit
The hardest part about staying spiritually minded is living in this world with its enticements. The next hardest thing is realizing that nearly everything we are drawn to is likely unholy. Isaiah 64:6 says, "But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags." Our spirit and flesh fight against each other all day long, and the only real way to combat it is to stay prayerful, armored, and do our best to act in a godly manner. God's commandments remind us how He expects us to behave, and Scripture lists sinful behaviors throughout the Bible. These things may seem obvious to a Christ-follower because we have the Holy Spirit to remind us, but they may not be as clear to those who walk in the flesh.
Paul sent a letter to the Galatian church giving them the details of what is considered sinful acts in Galatians 5, and held nothing back. If they were like us, they probably didn't take it very well, because who wants to be called out on their bad behavior? Change comes when you realize that there are things that are unholy that may not necessarily be pointed out in Scripture as sinfulness. Those things may not become obvious until you get to a place in your walk, like Isaiah and Paul, where you then see how dirty you are; that's when your need for our Savior materializes in your mind. Don't get me wrong, we are hidden in Jesus, and thankfully his righteousness becomes ours, but most of us haven't reached Isaiah and Paul's level of holiness where we're so aware of our sinfulness that we think everything we do is filthy. Here's the good news: Jesus accepts us at whatever level of holiness we achieve; you don't have to overthink it.
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Galatians 5:16-17
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