“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. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another. Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. If you think you are too important to help someone, you are only fooling yourself. You are not that important. Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else. For we are each responsible for our own conduct. Those who are taught the word of God should provide for their teachers, sharing all good things with them. Don’t be misled—you cannot mock the justice of God. You will always harvest what you plant. 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 5:16 - 6:8 NLT
What does it mean to sow by the Holy Spirit? For many this has come to mean the cultivation of their own desires. This is due to the fact that their understanding of the person of the Holy Spirit is unbiblical. They know the Holy Spirit as an impersonal force whose personality is a reflection of ours. In truth, this is squarely the opposite. The Holy Spirit’s person is distinct and knowable. He has desires and feelings about how we behave with his power. He doesn’t want us to cultivate something other than his own fruit. Instead he wishes us to cultivate the fruit Paul describes in Galatians 6. This is his work and as creatures empowered by him, it is his expectation for us. It is nothing less than the cultivation of the relational essence shared between the Father and Son in the Trinity. His wish is that this be extended in all of Christianity. When we cultivate our own desires, why we bear is nothing less than the opposite of this. It leads to a shameful and ugly facsimile of God.
JOSH McGARY. COM 