So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures,idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division,envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. – Galatians 5:16-21
No one likes to talk about our sinful nature. It’s not fun to read about how, when left to our natural selves, we are actually evil and go against what the Holy Spirit wants.
But if we believe the beautiful, comforting parts of Scripture, we must also be willing to accept the ugly and yucky truths, too. The reality is that our sinful selves are constantly battling against the good the Holy Spirit wants us to do.
I think infertility can bring out the worst of our sinful selves. We may not deal with some of the more scandalous sins mentioned in this passage (sorcery, anyone?), but I know I’ve been guilty of some of the other sins it mentions like envy, idolatry, jealousy, and even hostility (towards pregnant women or people who say insensitive things).
The good news is that Christ gives us the ability to overcome the struggle between good and evil (as we’ll see tomorrow). While we rejoice in that, let us not take lightly the fact that we are sinful beings. It’s only after recognizing and admitting that can we give Christ the space in our hearts to remedy it.
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