Walking in the Spirit is an important aspect of the spiritual life as a Christian. You must follow the path the Holy Spirit has set for your spirit in order to live in the Spirit. A successful journey requires you to recognize the conditions around you and take appropriate action.
Step
Method 1 of 2: Confronting Spiritual Warfare
Step 1. Face spiritual warfare
Even if you don't seem to be fighting a war in your daily life, walking in the Spirit requires you to take part in the spiritual warfare that is going on around you. Crime and corruption will always try to lead you astray. You must be aware of the danger before you can avoid it.
- Within you, the "spiritual" aspect is always at war with your "flesh," and the aspect that is in control of your beliefs and actions will control your soul and become the ruler of your life.
- Walking in the Spirit means walking with the Holy Spirit who will give control to your own spirit.
Step 2. Know your enemy
Basically, you have to face three different, interconnected enemies: the devil, the worldly life, and the flesh.
- Know that the statement, "the devil made me do it," is simply not true. Even though the devil had power and was able to influence the world, he would not be able to force someone who was already saved and walked in the Spirit to do anything. The devil can tempt you, but it is your responsibility if you give in to this temptation.
- The devil's influence is at work in this world, and because of this, the world often tempts you to turn away from what is good and right.
- Recognize what is called the flesh. The flesh is not your body, although these two things are related. The flesh is just a part of you that always wants worldly pleasures and rejects spiritual virtues.
- Denying your flesh on a regular basis will strengthen your spirit. By conquering the flesh, you are able to say "no" to worldly desires and say "yes" to God.
Step 3. Introduce yourself to this battlefield
More precisely, introduce yourself to these two battle arenas. You must prepare yourself to face evil internally and externally.
- The internal battles going on in your mind refer to the way you think and feel about the life around you and the people in it. External warfare in behavior refers to the way you act and speak in various situations.
- These two arenas are interrelated. If your thoughts are set on evil, your actions will follow. If you are constantly carried away by evil behavior, your mind will slowly make excuses to justify this evil.
Step 4. Accept yourself as you are
There are two components to your identity. First, you must recognize yourself as a human being, which means acknowledging your own weaknesses and limitations. Second, you must see yourself as you are in Jesus and understand the power that comes with your new identity.
- You are a soul living in a physical body. Therefore, true happiness will refer to the condition of your soul, and not to your physical condition.
- You will not be safe from sin, bad habits, and spiritual death if you rely solely on yourself.
- Accepting Jesus and acknowledging your identity in Jesus means understanding that the Lord Jesus always loves you and is on your side.
Step 5. Honestly admit your weaknesses
Everyone will face temptation, but no one will face temptation the same way. The slightest temptation to you may be different from that of your neighbour. Identify your greatest weakness in order to safely protect yourself from temptations.
You can be sure that the devil knows your every weakness and is always trying to catch you as prey. But the good news is that God always knows what your weaknesses are and knows how to prepare you to deal with them
Step 6. Rely on your greatest ally, the Holy Spirit
Once you have a good understanding of the battle you are in and the dangers of getting lost, you must admit that your strongest ally in dealing with this conflict is the Holy Spirit. You can only overcome the flesh if you choose to walk in the Spirit.
The Holy Spirit will give you the strength and ability to endure this battle and live a life of virtue. Maybe you will still slip and fall, but by always relying on the Spirit, your overall spiritual life journey will bring positive results
Method 2 of 2: Living Life Day by Day
Step 1. Prioritize your spiritual life
If you really want to walk in the Spirit, you must make a conscious effort to do this all the time. The spiritual journey is the most important aspect of your life. If you ignore this or put other things first, you may not be able to continue your journey any longer.
- Prioritize the things that are "major." Your daily life includes various affairs-family, work, school, and so on-and each of these affairs has its own role. But your spiritual journey must come first before anything else, and you must admit this if you want to be confident in the decisions you make.
- The right way to turn your mind to the Spirit is to pray for renewal of the promise of faith and deliverance every morning as soon as you wake up, preferably before you do anything else.
- When analyzing a particular situation or environment, consider whether it is in accordance with God's Will before you worry about what it looks like from a worldly point of view. Ask yourself if this will please God before asking what other people will think.
Step 2. Pray
Ask God for guidance and help as you walk. More importantly, pray, then listen. You may not hear an actual voice response, but God often uses other ways of telling you what you need to know.
- Your spirit will whisper in a special way to sound a warning in your heart the next time you encounter something that is wrong or harmful to your spiritual well-being. It takes practice to be able to interpret these promptings, but with experience, you will be better able to understand what the real message is.
- Imagine what it would be like if you had a conversation with someone who kept talking and never gave you a chance to talk. If you pray "to" God simply by making a series of requests, you are not giving God a chance to speak to you. Instead of doing this, you should take time to contemplate and meditate while praying.
- God may speak to you by bringing up thoughts you don't normally have or setting up a situation in an easily recognizable way. Keep your eyes, mind and heart open during your daily routine.
Step 3. Test your inner voice
Although constantly feeling guilty for your sins can make you weak, you should still check your inner voice regularly and be honest with yourself about your mistakes and weaknesses. You can overcome and avoid these things in the future only if you are willing to admit these mistakes.
Try imagining a garden. You can identify weeds and remove them before they kill healthy plants and fruit trees. If you sow anything without caring, you will spoil the good with the bad. If you don't get rid of bad habits, this state will kill good habits
Step 4. Listen, believe and obey
Let God communicate with you and trust that He will do His best. Once you learn to believe in God's will, it will naturally be easier for you to obey it. At this time, you must obey God's will and commandments, even if this goes against your human instincts and desires.
- You must obey God's laws, which are general rules that apply to all humans, and God's commands for your own individual life. God's law is explained in the Bible, but you must pay attention to the way God speaks in your personal life so that you can interpret the instructions God gives.
- Sometimes the direction set for you by the Spirit is clear enough, but often, the purpose behind the guidance given doesn't seem to make sense. It is at times like these that your trust in the Holy Spirit becomes of utmost importance. If you believe that God loves you and wants the best for you, this means that God-all-knowing and almighty-will guide you to achieve what is best for your life in the future.
- Know that obeying God means obeying right now. Delaying obedience is actually a form of disobedience.
Step 5. Observe the fruit of the Spirit in your life
As your life begins to show the “fruit of the Spirit,” you can feel confident in yourself that you are walking in the Spirit as you should be. These fruits do not guarantee your salvation, but they can result in your consistent salvation and journey in the Spirit.
- The fruits of the Spirit, according to Galatians 5:22-23, are love, joy, peace, patience, generosity, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
- Know that walking is first and fruits are next. You will not be able to walk on the right track simply by pretending to display the fruit of the Spirit in your life, especially since this is unlikely to actually be reflected in your thoughts and actions in the long term. First of all, you must follow the Spirit. After that, the Spirit fruits will grow by themselves.
- Don't be discouraged if you don't experience these fruits of the Spirit. Spiritual struggles will continue throughout your life. Let God cultivate these qualities in you in His time.
Step 6. Avoid disputes and conflicts
In the event of an unavoidable conflict, you must stay on your toes. There is advice that says, you must maintain a spirit of peace and love as long as you care about your actions. Stay away from contention for the sake of your own spiritual journey. You must also avoid conflict for the good of the other person.
Another way of saying it is, "don't look for trouble." If problems come your way, let God guide you to deal with them. But by understanding that God will guide you through all difficulties, there is no reason to create problems for yourself
Step 7. Speak carefully
Words have more power than most people realize. The words you choose, how and when you say them can keep you going or they can cause you to suddenly lose your balance.
- Listen first to the other person talking, and consider what you hear before speaking.
- Let the Holy Spirit guide your words and the motives behind your speech.
- Don't say rash things. Don't speak ill of others or use your words to hurt others. Remember that it is impossible to "take back" what you have said. Once you speak, your words will continue to reverberate in the air no matter if you try to correct them afterwards.
Step 8. Control your anger
There are times when you feel you deserve to be angry, and that's fine. However, avoid tantrums and uncontrollable violence because these forms of anger are more likely to be destructive than to treat. Anger that brings destruction will only hinder your journey.
- Be a person who is not quick to anger. Don't let anger control you and control how you deal with other people.
- If you get angry, ask yourself what caused your anger. Proper anger has a spiritual basis and is aimed at overcoming sin and injustice. Destructive anger arises out of worldly desires and often turns into a deep-seated grudge against certain people.
