Back in September my squad and I were in Chicago preparing to launch on the World Race. We spent a few days there together getting our hearts and minds ready to begin this journey. One evening, an alumni WR named Bethany gave us some wisdom that I haven’t yet forgotten. She said we have a choice…
We have a choice in choosing positivity.
We must learn to make positive choices on purpose.
We have the ability to make or break our race.
I think I’ve come back to this advice a least a million times while being on the race. Making the right choice isn’t always easy. But making the right choice is necessary. I can’t count the times while on the field that I have battled internally with the choices I’ve had. You would think that it would be easy to make the choice to love others, to prefer others, to give grace to others; yet, I’d find myself struggling to make the obvious right choices.
I don’t know about you, but it frustrates me to know that my flesh tends to get in the way of my Spirit. My Spirit knows how to respond with love and grace, so why do I constantly battle with my flesh? I think the enemy tries his best to feed off our flesh so that we make decisions that are not aligned with the Kingdom.
But here’s some good news. If we surrender to our God-given Spirit, our Spirit ALWAYS chooses correctly. Our Spirit will choose love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
In all honesty, Romania was a hard month for me. I found myself having daily battles to make the right choice. My internal attitude didn’t always match what I had on the exterior. I so desperately wanted to love and serve those around me, but my flesh was battling my Spirit.
I learned a lot about myself last month. I learned that without God and His Spirit, then I am just someone of the flesh gratifying the desires of the flesh. But that is NOT who I am. I am made alive with the Spirit, and my flesh has fallen away.
Pray for me. Pray that this month I will live out the fruits of the Spirit. Pray that my Spirit remains strong and that my desires are aligned to the godly standards at work in me.
My desire is to walk each day in the Spirit; and to make the right, godly choice whenever an occasion arises.
"But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh."
Galatians 5:16
"If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit."
Galatians 5:25
