Wednesday - Don’t Be Drunk, Be Filled Don’t Be Drunk, Be Filled

Galatians 5:16-25 – “This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. 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. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.  If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.”

Ephesians 5:18 – “And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;”

Paul puts these ideas side by side for a reason. Drunkenness and Spirit-filling both deal with influence and control. Wine takes over your behavior. It affects how you think, how you talk, and how you act. In the same way, being filled with the Spirit means letting God guide your thoughts, your words, and your choices.

Every single day something is trying to influence you. Culture pulls at you. Your flesh pulls at you. Fear, pride, anger, selfishness, bad habits, old patterns, worldly pressure… all of it wants a say in how you live.

But God calls you to one primary influence. His Spirit.

And when the Spirit is leading your life, something incredible happens. You start to grow fruit that you could never manufacture on your own. Love. Joy. Peace. Longsuffering. Gentleness. Goodness. Faith. Meekness. Temperance or Self-control. These do not come from willpower. They come from surrender.

So, the question is not, “Am I under an influence?” You always are.
The real question is, “Whose influence am I under today?”

Choose daily to walk by the Spirit.