South County Church
Thrive – healthy and growing in all areas of your life.
What is a decision you wish you could go back and do over?
Big Idea: Live to stay as close to Jesus as possible!
Scripture: Galatians 5:16-23 NLT – 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 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. 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses. 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 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. 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
How do we choose right more often?
o Live by God’s Direction
§ Galatians 5:16-17a NLT – 16 So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. 17 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.
§ Galatians 5:17b NLT – …the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires.
§ Romans 7:21-23 NLT – 21 I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. 22 I love God’s law with all my heart. 23 But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me.
§ 2 Peter 1:10-11 NLT – 10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Do these things, and you will never fall away. 11 Then God will give you a grand entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
§ Galatians 5:25 NLT – 25 Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.
o Remember you are Free (Wake Up to the FACT)
§ Galatians 5:18 NLT – 18 But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are not under obligation to the law of Moses.
§ Romans 8:9 NLT – 9 But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.)
§ Titus 2:14 NLT – 14 He gave his life to free us from every kind of sin, to cleanse us, and to make us his very own people, totally committed to doing good deeds.
§ 1 Peter 2:16 NLT – 16 For you are free, yet you are God’s slaves, so don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do evil.
o Think through the Results and Consequences
§ Galatians 5:19-21a NLT – 19 When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, 21 envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these.
§ Proverbs 14:12 NLT – 12 There is a path before each person that seems right, but it ends in death.
§ Galatians 6:7-8 NLT – 7 Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 8 Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.
§ Galatians 5:22-23 NLT – 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
o Getting Practical – When making choices how can I best think it through?
§ What does God’s Word say?
§ What does the Holy Spirit in me say? (God’s Spirit will never contradict His Word nor will it ever lead you to sin)
§ Will this decision draw me closer to Jesus or further away?
Are you walking in freedom today?
o Freedom isn’t doing whatever you want. Freedom is living surrendered to the Lord and following His ways.
Next Steps
o Read and Meditate on Galatians 5 this week.
o Evaluate: Where am I living on the edge that I need to choose to draw closer to the Lord?
o Action: Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your life.