“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:13–26)

Who is your leader?” Too often, the answer is “myself.” You rely on yourself. Paul calls it the sinful nature in this passage. We want to gratify the desires of our sinful nature. We want to make ourselves happy. We want to be our own leader, to do whatever pleases us, thinking we know what will be best and make us happy.

Living that way keeps you from letting God be in control. Paul says you should be led by the Spirit of God. When you follow His guiding, your life will bear the fruit that shows you follow Him: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. You will be in step with what God would have you do. And you will find a peace and a happiness that you cannot find anywhere else.

The problem we encounter is our old sinful self is still with us. The sinful nature wants to take control. It leads people to say things like “I don’t care if I was born male and have male parts. I identify as a female and you have to treat me as such!”

I was reminded of the poem by William Earnest Henley entitled “INVICTUS,” which is Latin for “unconquerable.” It speaks of struggling with and overcoming terrible adversity. But if you really listen to it, it is a reflection of an angry, unbelieving, self-centered, self-righteous person. It speaks of the greatness of people, and misses out on the true greatness of God and what He has done for us. This poem is the work of someone who lets the sinful nature be in control. It ends this way:

I am the master of my fate.
I am the captain of my soul.

 All of us are tempted to think and act in the same way, wanting to be the “master of our fate and the captain of our soul” instead of letting the Spirit be in control. But left to your own resources, where would you be? A poor, miserable sinner with no hope of anything but punishment from God. Honestly examine your life and you will find that you have exhibited many of the acts of the sinful nature listed in here: …sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

Your actions make you worthy of the worst punishment God can dish out. The beauty of our situation is that God dealt His worst, but directed it at Jesus instead of us. The punishment we so richly deserve for our continued disobedience was placed up Christ and not us. By faith in Jesus, His death is made our death for sin. We are spared from all the horrible things that should happen to us in eternity, not because of who we are or what we have done, but because of who Jesus is and what He has done.

As those who have been led to faith in Jesus, we should gladly follow His lead. We have the confidence of victory over sin and death and the devil for His sake. We will still stumble and fall short of who God would have us be, but with Jesus we are assured of full forgiveness and restoration. We have the desire to turn our lives around out of gratitude to God.

Christ be my leader by night as by day;
Safe through the darkness, for he is the way.
Gladly I follow, my future his care;
Darkness is daylight when Jesus is there.

Christ be my teacher in age as in youth,
Drifting or doubting, for he is the truth.
Grant me to trust him; though shifting as sand,
Doubt cannot daunt me; in Jesus I stand.

Christ be my savior in calm as in strife;
Death cannot hold me, for he is the life.
Not darkness nor doubting nor sin and its stain
Can touch my salvation: with Jesus I reign.

May He always be the one you follow.