Teaching
Our Children to Walk
Children are versatile and imaginative. They learn to speak by listening. Most children learn everything they learn by
observation and copying. This aspect of
learning is ingrained into their beings by God.
This is how God designed us to learn and develop as spiritual
beings. Yet, children are incredibly
fragile creatures. As spiritual beings
they require spiritual models from which to learn how to be spiritual. Sadly, there are very few spiritual models
for them to observe. In most cases, even
their parents are incredibly inadequate spiritual models because they grew up
with poor spiritual models themselves, if any at all.
In most cases,
most people have no idea what genuine spirituality looks like. Genuine spirituality is humble, transparent
about failures, faults, and weaknesses. Genuine spirituality understands the
need for constant repentance and continual renewal. Genuine spirituality understands the warfare
against the flesh and one’s own natural propensity for lusting after the worst
of the worst. Genuinely spiritual people
are engaged in the battle for their own spirituality knowing that in the battle
they are fighting for the spirituality of every person they love. This engagement is in fact what defines his
love for others. The priority of the
spiritual person is to deal with the desires of his “flesh” in the brutal
manner it deserves. Crucify the “flesh”! That is where the Christian life begins in
repentance from sin. It is also within
this fertile soil of constant and continual repentance where the Christian life
of spirituality grows.
“24 And they that are Christ’s
have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. 25 If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of
vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. 1 Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one
in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2
Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. 3
For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth
himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he
have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man
shall bear his own burden. 6 Let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. 7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man
soweth, that shall he also reap. 8 For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of
the Spirit reap life everlasting. 9 And let us not be weary in
well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not. 10 As
we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially
unto them who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 5:24-6:10).
I sat in my family room watching the rain drops hit the
glass on our French doors as I was thinking about the truths of this text. I thought that God might view the preaching
of His truths to His children like I saw those rain drops hit the glass. Rain has the potential of satisfying our
thirst if we would drink it in. It could
cool us on a hot day if we would stand in it.
It will cleanse us of the sweat and filth of our toils if we would but
give ourselves to its downpour. Yet, so
often we are like the guy sitting in his family room watching the rain bounce
off the glass of his patio doors. We
appreciate all that God’s truths promise. However, we take truth so for granted that we
never really appropriate its benefits to us.
We never involve ourselves in living truth because we do not allow those
truths to really touch our lives. As a
result, we are only spectators, while God intends us to be full participants. Because of that, we never fully grow to the
spiritual maturity that God intends.
God’s Word is like
an apple orchard with trees so heavily laden with fruit their branches are
about to snap from the load.
Christians drive by. They wonder
at the bounty on those trees. They
admire the beauty they present to their eyes.
Yet they never realize that the fruit of those trees is provided by God
for them to eat and be nourished by if they would only reap the harvest. God’s truths are to be taken, eaten, and
enjoyed. However, until they are
acknowledged as God-truths and that they are best for us, they will always be
bitter in our bellies. God-truths benefit us only when they are
BELIEVED and LIVED.
Modeling how we want
our children to live is the primary method for successful parenting. This modeling is summed up in Galatians 5:25,
“If we live in the Spirit,
let us also walk in the Spirit.”
Modeling Christ involves teaching children HOW TO “walk in the Spirit.” It also involves teaching children what is
necessary in order to correct spiritual deficiencies evident in the lives of
other professing believers. Galatians
6:1-10 deals primarily with the process of spiritual discipline and teaches
what is necessary to implement spiritual discipline in our own lives and the
lives of those under our influence.
What do we do when
someone we know refuses to recognize that his life is out of control? What do we do with the person who manifests
obvious symptoms of out-of-control anger, fear, or desires, but seems blinded
to them? How are we supposed to maintain
our relationship with such people? It will be very difficult, if not impossible,
to do so.
“Can two walk together , except they be agreed” (Amos 3:3)?
The Word of God does give us exhaustive instruction in
dealing with these people. However, they
have a free will. You can never change
them. All you can be is a “ROAD SIGN” for God. In this text God gives us four ways to do
that.
Galatians 5:24 says to be a stop sign. Be the right kind of example in dealing
with your own flesh. Galatians 5:24 is a
statement of fact. “They that are Christ’s” are those
who have openly confessed to be His followers (disciple). This person recognizes the sovereign right
and authority of Jesus Christ to expect His disciples to live and act as He
directs them. In both of Paul’s epistles to the carnal Corinthian Christians, he had
to remind them that they belonged to Christ.
This is a common problem for people who continue to live out of control
lives.
“What?
know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you,
which ye have of God, and ye are not your own” (I Corinthians 6:19)?
“Examine
yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your
own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates” (II Corinthians 13:5)?
If a person professes to be a follower of Christ, he is morally
obligated to crucify “the flesh with
the affections and lusts.” Ritual
(water) baptism is all about testifying to this crucifixion
of the flesh. This is a predominant
characteristic of those who seek to live under the control of the Holy
Spirit. This means they see their “flesh” (sin nature, all those
“works of the flesh” in Galatians
5:19-21) nailed to the cross with Christ.
The metaphor does not mean that we crucify our “flesh,” but that our flesh has already been nailed to the
cross. We are to live within the practical
reality of that new position in Christ. That
means, even though the “old man”
still lives within us, he is restrained by the enabling grace of God through
the empowering of the Holy Spirit. We
must see the “flesh” on the
Cross and daily die to its “works”
before we can be yielded to the Holy Spirit’s control. There is such shallow teaching regarding the
purpose of water baptism and the sanctified life to which it is intended to
represent that the ritual is meaningless.
“1 What
shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? 2
God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3
Know ye not, that so many of us as were {Spirit}
baptized into Jesus Christ (the New
Genesis in Christ as the ‘last adam’) were {Spirit} baptized into his death? 4 Therefore we are
buried with him by {Spirit} baptism
into death: that like as {water baptism
is a physical semblance representing our understanding of the spiritual} Christ
was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 5For if
we have been planted together in the likeness of his death {immersion; if the spiritual reality has taken place}, we shall be also in the
likeness of his resurrection: 6 Knowing this, that our
old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed,
that henceforth we should not serve sin”
(Romans 6:1-6).
Galatians 5:25 says to be a yield sign. “If we
live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Be the
right kind of example by living your life yielded to and under the control of
the Spirit. If there is a profession of
faith, there should be a walk of faith that backs up the talk. If we say we live by the Spirit’s guidance
and empowering, then we should change the way we live and act.
“Live by the Spirit” means that the Holy Spirit is
the only One able to put the God-life
into these “dead in trespasses and
sin” bodies of ours. That life is
available to every believer who has been “born
again” and indwelled by the Holy Spirit.
The “old man” was
crucified with Christ (Romans 6:6). We
need to keep the “old man” on the cross, which frees us to serve the Lord (body, soul and spirit). If we are going to help others get victory
over their carnality, we must “walk”
under the control of the Spirit ourselves.
“11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed
unto sin {the ‘flesh’ or sin nature}, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ
our Lord. 12 Let not sin {the
‘flesh’ or sin nature} therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should
obey it in the lusts thereof. 13 Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness
unto sin {the ‘flesh’ or sin nature}:
but yield yourselves unto God, as
those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of
righteousness unto God. 14 For sin {the ‘flesh’ or sin nature} shall not have dominion over you: for ye
are not under the law, but under grace {inward
spiritual enabling of the indwelling Spirit}. 15 What then?
shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace {inward spiritual enabling of the indwelling
Spirit}? God forbid. 16 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are
to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
righteousness” (Romans 6:11-16)?
Walking “in the Spirit”
means to live the “Christ-life” by His help and with His assistance, through
the direction of the Word of God. It
means allowing Him to take us by the hand through the Word of God and lead us
through difficulties and trials, even trying to live with out-of-control
people.
“16
This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of
the flesh. 17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that
ye cannot do the things that ye would. 18 But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law” (Galatians 5:16-18).
Galatians 6:1 says to be a direction sign. When a brother or sister in Christ is out of control,
make sure you are under control and working towards restoring him/her to the Spirit’s control. This means confrontation. Understand two qualifying statements about
this confrontation before you attempt it.
1. Make sure you are under the Spirit’s control (“spiritual”). This
control will be evident by an attitude of “meekness,” which is a “fruit of the Spirit.”
2. Take into consideration how you might respond under various
circumstances so that you can ACT instead of RE-ACT. Prepare yourself so that your “triangle for failure”
(fear, anger and desires) doesn’t get out of control.
The word “restore” in
Galatians 6:1 (Greek - kat-ar-tid'-zo) means to mend something that is broken or to make it what it ought to be.
Effort is expected on the part of
the restorer. We are often willing
to go to extremes when a person is broken in some physical way but are
unforgiving and unwilling to try to help when someone fails spiritually. We don’t want to get involved!
If someone has a broken leg, how would you go about setting
the bone? What carefulness would you
employ to ensure that the person would be able to walk again? Would you take into consideration the pain of
it all? Would you be as gentle as
possible? How would you participate in
their recovery?
Restoring someone
has three steps (Matthew 18:15-17).
1. “Moreover if thy
brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and
him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother” (Matthew 18:15).
2. “But
if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established” (Matthew 18:16).
3. “And if he shall
neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the
church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican” (Matthew 18:17).
Galatians 6:7-8 says to be a warning sign. When a person refuses to repent, warn him of
the consequences of his choice.
“When
I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning,
nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same
wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his
blood will I require at thine hand. Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he
turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul” (Ezekiel 3:18-19).
Christians who live their lives out of the control of the Holy Spirit, unaware
of the consequences, live in mockery of God and His holiness. “God
is not mocked.” Lives
lived out of the control of the Holy Spirit will eventually reap the
consequences.
Believers who continually live lives out of the control of
the Holy Spirit need to be reminded and warned of the end results of their
selfishness. Yes, their sin penalty has
been paid for in the work of Christ, BUT the consequences of living
under the control of the “flesh”
will “reap” devastating results
in that person’s life and in the lives of those who follow their bad example.
You harvest the crop you plant. Once sown, weeds become
self-propagating. If you plant
corruption, you will harvest corruption.
What does that mean? If you
continue to live in the “flesh”
(as manifested by the evident “works
of the flesh”), you will harvest a crop of misery, broken relationships,
destroyed lives and lost hopes. This is
not what MIGHT happen. This is what WILL
happen.
“4
Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your cieled houses, and this house lie
waste? 5 Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your
ways. 6 Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have
not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but
there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a
bag with holes. 7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways” (Haggai 1:4-7).
Galatians 6:9-10 says don’t get discouraged by people who
ignore the signs you are trying to give them. Just be what you are supposed to be and do
what you are supposed to do. The rest is
in God’s hands. Keep putting God first
in your life. Don’t blame God for the
pain that disobedient people bring into your life.
“In due time we shall reap.” Sooner or later, in God’s own time, our lives
will be a harvest field of what we have sown.
If we have sown righteous living, we can expect to reap the benefits of
that. If that does not happen in this
life, it will happen in eternity. Only
then will we really see the eternal consequences of living under the control of
the Spirit.
“If we faint not” - persevere, don’t quit on
Christ. If you are alive and living
under the control of the Holy Spirit, there is hope for change in the lives you
are seeking to influence for Christ. In
every “opportunity” (v. 10)
that comes along, God opens a window for those living out of His control to see
you as the road sign which He intends you to be. When that “opportunity” comes along, make sure you are living under the
Spirit’s control.
1. Make sure you are a Stop
Sign by making sure you have put a stop to the “flesh” in your life.
2. Make sure you are a Yield
Sign by making sure you manifest a life yielded to the Holy Spirit in
obedience to the Word of God.
3. Make sure you are a sign that
gives the right directions for being
restored to fellowship and living under the Spirit’s control by practicing the
three steps to restoration found in Matthew 18:15-17.
4. When necessary, don’t be
afraid to be a Warning Sign to those
who refuse to repent.
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Numerous studies and series are available free of charge for local churches at: http://www.disciplemakerministries.org/
Dr. Lance Ketchum serves the Lord as a Church Planter, Evangelist/Revivalist.
He has served the Lord for over 40 years.
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