A stand out performance

My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are contrary to each other, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don’t you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence? (Galatians 5:16)

Choose to be led - those four words are quite informative, aren't they? We 'choose' 'to be' 'led'. Choice is always part of our walk with Jesus. Some may look at Christians as a bunch of people who are given no choice other than to never smoke, never chew, and never run with those who do. I am certain there are a few other 'don't do this or that' items we could add to that list, but you get the point. Christians are given a choice - obey God's commands and thrive within the freedom that brings or choose our own way and see if that gets us 'close enough' to being 'okay' without being totally 'awful'. I don't like the possibility that the outcome could be that I just add guilt or shame to an already overburdened soul, do you? I choose obedience even when it is not convenient, not because I 'have to', but because I want to. How about you? Do you choose to be led by the Spirit of God? Be careful how you answer that for your actions speak much louder than your words. Words are easy - choices are harder!

To be - choices are usually 'actionable' - in other words, they involve something occurring, coming into existence, or happening. When we choose obedience over 'selfish desire', we are allowing God's Spirit to bring into existence the very power to overcome all the desire to live opposite of that choice. Look again at our passage - disobedience actually 'feeds the compulsions of selfishness'. That pretty much defines some of the choices I have made over the course of my lifetime, how about you? If you find you have been 'feeding the compulsions of selfishness' a bit too often, it isn't too late to walk those choices back. We can choose again, allowing the new actions to produce a new outcome. Choose to be 'led'. This is probably the most important thing we do after we make the choice to follow Jesus. Following indicates there is a leader, doesn't it? We all follow someone, like it or not. For example, we could follow societal norms, religious dictates, or political ideals. Who we choose to follow is important. When we make a conscious choice to follow Jesus, we might not realize it, but we are choosing 'against' many of those norms or ideals that are out there today. To choose to be led means we might just 'stand out' as different. Perhaps that is a good thing? Just askin!