May, Steve - Winning the Inner Civil War

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Winning the Inner Civil War
by Steve May
Text: Galatians 5:1-26
Topic: How to win the inner war between the flesh and God
Big Idea: Walking in the Spirit is a process, and once you master the technique, you’ll experience the victory.
Keywords: Victorious Living; Freedom; Temptation; Sin; Human nature



Introduction:
  • Romans 7:15,18-19
  • Galatians 5:17
  • The inner civil war rages inside of each of us—a mixed bag of wants that are in constant conflict with one another.
  • The desire to do right is all too often shadowed by the desire to do wrong.
  • We don’t have to be slaves to our old desires anymore.
  • Illustration: May jokes about a real magazine called Walking, setting up his point that there is more to “walking” in the Spirit than what you learn as a child.
  • Big Idea: Walking in the Spirit is a process, and once you master the technique, you’ll experience the victory.
  • Galatians 5:16
Filter your influences.
  • Galatians 5:7,10,12
  • Paul is saying, “I’m telling you the truth; they are you telling you lies. Listen to me, not them.”
  • Make it a habit to listen to the voices of grace in your life.
  • As for all the self-righteous, legalistic hypocrites—let their words fall in deaf ears.
Look for opportunities to serve others.
  • Galatians 5:13-14
  • True spirituality is directly connected to how we treat others.
  • Galatians 6:2,10
  • Illustration: May lifts up Vineyard Christian Church of Cincinnati—which serves the community through everything from distributing bottled water to cleaning toilets—as an example of a church looking for the opportunity to serve.
Think on your feet.
  • Illustration: May tells three humorous personal anecdotes of blundering while walking, all because he wasn’t thinking while he was walking.
  • Walking in the Spirit is not something that just happens by accident in our lives; it is something that we learn to do...and it happens deliberately.
  • Romans 8:5
  • Galatians 5:19-21
  • Think on your feet; as you go through life day-by-day making decisions, think about the negative consequences of sinful behavior.
  • Galatians 5:22-24
  • Think about the positive results of following the direction of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion:
  • This battle against the two natures at war within us is a battle that will not end this side of heaven.
  • Galatians 5:17
  • We win the battle by learning to walk in the Spirit one step at a time.
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