The Evidence of God’s Spirit
Walking in the Spirit” – Part II

Scripture Reading: Galatians 5:16-26

Key Verse: Galatians 5:22
But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: … joy…

In yesterday’s devotional I mentioned that there is a third thing that results from following our sinful fleshly desires.

The third result is losing God’s joy in our lives. A true Christ-follower simply does not find joy in their sins.

The Spirit of God not only guides us in our daily lives, but He also convicts us when we sin. His conviction is a deep sense of remorse for our sin rather than shaming or condemning!

We must not allow the devil to shame us or condemn us. We must feel the remorse and then repent of our sin and receive God’s love and forgiveness.

The loss of our joy is twofold. First, it is the remorse that we just talked about.

Second, it is the opportunity that we give to the devil when we sin. The devil loves to “pile on” and shame us, often for hours and days and sometimes even longer. If we are going to get back our joy, we must fight the enemy of our souls and resist any thought of condemnation.

I confront these thoughts of condemnation with the Word of God that says:

So now there is no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).

When a Christ-follower fails in their self-control and follows a sinful fleshly desire, God does NOT throw us out of His Kingdom. The Spirit convicts us, and then lovingly nudges us back in line with godly principles.

Another strategy that the devil uses to rob us of our joy is to make us feel guilty over the temptation to do evil (even if we did not give in to it). Feeling the desire to sin is different than the act of sinning. God knows the difference, and so should we if we want to keep God’s joy in our lives.

Memorize Hebrews 4:15:

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.

Jesus, I am so grateful that you are advocating for me! Father, thank you for being faithful, even when I am unfaithful. In Jesus’s Name I pray, amen.