How Can We Keep in Step with the Spirit?
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“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25).
The Holy Spirit is a profound mystery, indeed. Let’s be honest, most of us don’t have the first inkling how the Holy Spirit impacts us – or should impact us – in our everyday lives. We don’t see Him, we don’t feel Him, are we even aware of Him inside of us? How in the world do I even know if He’s there?
Of course, we all know that Jesus promised His disciples (and us) that when He left, He would leave us a “Helper” (John 14:26, 15:26; 16:7). Then, at His ascension into heaven, He promised that the Holy Spirit would come upon us. But even when Jesus spoke with Nicodemus under the cover of night, Jesus taught that we are to be born of Spirit. He continued with a teaching we can take to heart:
“Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:6, 8).
Of course, the lessons here are endless, but we know that when we give our hearts and lives to Christ Jesus, we are born of His Spirit. That means we have His Spirit living within us. In fact, without the Spirit in our lives, we cannot be born again. And yet, Jesus told us then of the mysterious and transformative nature of the Holy Spirit’s work in the lives of those who are born again.
Just like the wind is invisible and rather unpredictable, thus too is the work of the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life. So, while we don’t always know what to listen for, or look for, we know this – He is alive and moving within us, and we are to be alert to His presence and to His leading.
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Following the Spirit
But what does that mean, exactly? How do we follow His lead when we don’t even know where or how He’s leading us? Well, the first step is what we have just showed: we need to acknowledge the Spirit’s presence within us and being open and willing to surrender our own will to His direction.
Timothy Keller, author of “Practicing the Way,” put it this way: “For Jesus, salvation is less about getting you into heaven and more about getting heaven into you.” Keller describes how the original name for the community of disciples of Christ was “the Way” or “followers of the Way.”
The Greek word used is hodos – literally, “a road or path.” Keller says the Way is not just theology or some list of ethics, “it’s exactly what it sounds like – a way of life.”
Putting this together then, Jesus knew we could not follow the Way – could not make following Him a way of life – without guidance and leadership.
That is where the Holy Spirit comes in.
To "keep in step with the Holy Spirit" means that we choose to live our lives guided by the Spirit of the Lord. We choose to align our thoughts, words, and actions with God's will. It means a very intentional decision and requires a conscious effort to be sensitive to the Spirit's prompting, yielding to His guidance, and bearing the fruit of the Spirit. This requires actively listening for the Spirit's voice, responding to His nudges, and surrendering one's own will to His direction.
“You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you” (Roman 8:9-11).
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Why Do We Need the Spirit?
“…because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us” (Romans 5:5).
In Galatians 5:5, Paul tells us we are to “keep in step with the Spirit.” But he doesn’t leave it there. He follows that up with other statements about how we are to live by the spirit.
Verse 16: Walk by the Spirit.
“…walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Verse 18: Be led by the Spirit.
“But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law."
Verse 22-23: Bear the fruit of the Spirit.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Verse 25: Live by the Spirit – and, repeating again we are to keep in step.
“Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.”
Five different times Paul emphasized our relationship with the Spirit, all within 20 verses. Think Paul believes this to be pretty important to our lives as disciples of Christ? Yeah, me too.
As each one of us goes through our daily lives, we will face many decisions. According to Psychology Today, we might face as many as 35,000 decisions in a single day. Many of those are, of course, meaningless to our faith. But a great many are quite important and reflect who we are. In fact, our true faith is demonstrated through these decisions – through how we think, how we feel, how we act and how we speak.
As we go, we will face temptations of many kinds. Where we stand with the Spirit could well determine how we respond to those temptations, even the little ones. For us to “walk or keep in step” with the Spirit means letting the Spirit guide our decisions – our choices – every day, every moment of our lives. It means letting the Spirit guide our actions and our attitudes daily. Not just on Sundays, but every day, even when life gets hard or we are challenged.
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Walking in the Spirit Vs. Walking in the Flesh
The difference between walking in the flesh or walking with the Spirit is like, well, as far as the “east is from the west” (Psalm 103:12). The difference between darkness and light. His light. The flesh leads us to human desires of the “flesh,” because the Spirit and the flesh “…are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want” (Galatians 5:17b).
What are the acts of the flesh Paul is talking about? He calls them obvious: “…sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” (Galatians 5:19-21) “…and the like” sort of covers a lot of ground, doesn’t it? And yeah, I’d agree those are kind of obvious.
But then:
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23a).
We don’t know if that is a complete list, of course, But we also could include: compassion, mercy, grace, humility, and the like. Now, let’s each ask ourselves if we need to “keep in step with the Spirit” so we are living for and by the Spirit and not the flesh.
And yet, it sometimes seems as if we take “walking with the Spirit” somewhat passively. We kind of assume that it is automatic when we say we believe. Trust me – it isn’t.
When I attended the Naval Academy, one of the first things we had to do was to learn to march together – to keep in step with each other. To do that, we had our “marching” songs that we would sing so that everyone would know the pace. During the summer of my plebe year, this marching became our daily routine. As such, we had to remain attentive to our commander, ready to respond to his orders and direction. It became our rhythm of life.
“The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you — they are full of the Spirit and life” (John 16:63).
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How Do We Get There?
“For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God” (Romans 8:14).
Recently I read a piece that compared walking with the Spirit to a man and a woman learning to dance together. The piece further compared it to the Church as the bride of Christ learning to “keep in step” with the Spirit. The analogy was spot on and could be taken even further.
Consider that the Lord is the groom; the bride might be completely left-footed and have no idea how to dance at all. No waltz, no tango, no salsa, no rhythm…nothing. (I just described my own dancing ability, by the way.) What then must the bride do in order to be prepared for the wedding dance? Learn, practice, work at it daily.
Keeping in step with the Spirit, walking with the Spirit, and being led by the Spirit all must become the rhythm of our lives. It must be our every moment of everyday practice until it feels natural.
Walking with the Spirit is not about momentary spiritual highs. It is about lasting relationship. It’s about making room for Him in our lives in our everyday practices – learning to listen, to respond, and to depend on Him. To turn to Him in times of decision. Each day will bring new opportunities to grow sensitive to His leading and direction.
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10 Practical Ways to Grow This Practice
1. Start Every Day in Prayer
Start with five minutes, if necessary. But do it. Give thanks. Be honest. Nothing formal – just talk to God. And if you don’t know what to say, the Spirit will pray for you.
2. Read and Meditate on God’s Word Daily
Start with one gospel chapter per day. But don’t just read; take it to heart. Think about it. Ponder it.
3. Throughout the Day, Turn Your Heart and Mind to the Lord
1 Thessalonian 5:16-18
Sitting in traffic or in line? Give a thought to the Lord. If nothing else, just give thanks. Feel His Spirit with you and rejoice.
4. When Nudged, Listen
John 16:13, Acts 1:8, Ephesians 3:20
It won’t be a loud voice; it might be a subtle thought that comes to your head or your heart. Whether it might be to step up to pray for someone, to offer a helping hand, or something else, only the Spirit knows. When you feel the nudge, you’ll know where it’s from. Listen.
5. Follow the Desires of the Spirit and Not the Flesh
Each day we will experience a battle between our spiritual desires and the desires of the flesh. Paul fought the same battle (Romans 7:19-25). We do not need to fight this on our own if we walk with the Spirit. Let us yield to the Godly desires within us to do right.
6. Be Conscious of the Fruit You Display
Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. Forgiveness. Mercy. Grace. Humility. And others like them. If we each live like that every day, it would be like a magnet drawing others to Christ.
7. Be Forgiving
Matthew 6:12, Matthew 18:21-35, Ephesians 4:32
We must remember that when we hold a grudge or resentment toward anyone, for anything – we are keeping a prisoner locked up within. That prisoner is us. When we forgive, we set that prisoner free. We need only remember what we have been forgiven of.
8. Practice Self-Control
Proverbs 25:28, 2 Timothy 1:7, 2 Peter 1:5-7
We all face these moments. Often, we think we wouldn’t be wrong to speak our minds. But is it really the right thing to do? What would be accomplished? And remember you’re not alone in this battle. Lean on Him. Turn to the Spirit and ask for strength and control.
9. Stay in Community with Other Believers
I have witnessed first-hand the importance of church community in difficult times. It simply cannot be overstated. Of course, no church is perfect; there will be stuff going on we don’t like. But we are there for unity in Christ. To support one another. To love one another. To “another” one another.
10. Serve Others
We don’t serve others to earn our salvation. We serve others because of our salvation. We help those who need it. It doesn’t have to be across the globe, it can be across the street.
“But whoever is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:17).
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How Keeping in Step with the Spirit Benefits Our Lives
“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come” (John 16:13).
As we continue to learn to walk with the Holy Spirit, we will experience spiritual growth and transformation that we never knew was possible. Not all at once, but it will come. We will feel assured of His guidance and protection and we will learn to trust.
Leaning on the Spirit will help us make Godly decisions. Rather than on impulse or in fear of what others will think, we can decide through discernment and guidance. John 16:13 tells us the Holy Spirit will “guide you into all truth.” That means we can count in Him to lead us in our relationships, our finances, spiritual challenges we may face and even at work – all with a divine wisdom we have no access to without the Spirit.
We will learn to walk in peace and joy, living our lives by the fruit of the Spirit, rather than on fleshly desires that will leave us thirsty and unsatisfied. And we will experience renewed strength for facing the tough times.
Walking with the Spirit is not about being perfect. None of us are or ever will be this side of eternity. It is about staying as close as we can to Him. Keeping Him in our hearts and minds. Yes, there will be days you stumble, as we all do. So, we recognize, repent, say a prayer, and reset.
Keep listening, keep walking with Him, and keep in step with Him.
“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
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Greg doesn’t pretend to be a pastor, a theologian, or a Bible expert, but offers the perspective of an everyday guy on the same journey as everyone else – in pursuit of truth.
Greg can be reached by email or on Facebook @ Greg Grandchamp - Author.