In Step with the Spirit

     Lately, I've been feeling spiritually dead.  Well, not dead as in "void of life," but essentially stagnant or without movement.  There are regular periods in life that modern Christians like to dub as "mountains" and "valleys," and I guess I could say I was in the latter.  It was a convenient two-week valley, complete with lack of prayer and Bible reading (which doesn't improve your faith, by the way), and I was ready to get out of it.  I was feeling apathetic and lifeless, and I needed some vitality.
So, I prayed.  It was simple enough, something along the lines of "soften this heart of stone" and "give me new life" and "help me know you more" with other cliché contemporary Christian phrases.  But, thank God, He answered it nonetheless, because it was truly heartfelt.
     I have been reading through Galatians, a book characterized by a spiritually lifeless people.  They were more concerned about the Law and the things that the Judaizers (opponents of Paul's teachings) preached.  It is of significance to point out that these Judaizers attempted to incorporate Old Testament law into the newly Jesus-reinstated Gospel.  (I say "reinstated" because the Gospel was not a new idea, and even though the word is Greek, the process of being saved lasted long before then.)  And although there is nothing wrong with the Law (we often view it in a negative way), the Judaizers believed that all saved people were to adopt a Jewish perspective on life, following the Torah with its 613 commandments for the Jewish life.  Paul disagreed, and many times you will read Him arguing about the unnecessary act of circumcision, which was certainly new to the gentiles of Galatia.  So, there was some stagnancy in the Galatian church.
     But Paul begins to wrap up his letter (or in my opinion, begins the climax) with the Fruits of the Sinful Nature versus the Fruits of the Spirit.  In Galatians 5:16, he begins with, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."  How does one escape from the lack of spiritual vitality of the sinful nature?  In essence, live by the Spirit!  Is this a profound statement?  In my opinion, I don't think so.  It's something that is preached, yet rarely practiced.  We talk about God's Spirit as if It is some mystical being like the Force, and if we squint our eyes hard enough and "use the Force," good things will happen.  So, the charge to live by the Spirit is not profound by any means through wordage, but it is certainly radical when it comes to living life.
     In conclusion, what can we do to improve our faith?  What can we do to have joy?  What can we do to truly love others and have compassion on them?  Ask for guidance from the Spirit!  Each one of us who are in Christ are already living with the Spirit, so let us take advantage of the amazing opportunity that God has so graciously blessed us with, and live in a way that will improve our daily lives tenfold.  This is my challenge to you, reader.  Pray earnestly for God's generous helping of the Spirit, so that you (we) may be true "lights" in a dark world.