STRENGTH THROUGH GROWTH by Robert Soto

STRENGTH THROUGH GROWTH by Robert Soto

March 5, 2010

Galatians 5:16 "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature."

The body is a very fragile thing. As much as we work it out and as healthy as we can get, it does not change the truth that anything can happen to weaken it or even destroy hours upon hours that we have spent to make it healthy. I spend an hour of exercise four times a week to make sure I stay in dancing shape. So four times a week I work out every part of my body then jump on a high resistance walking/skiing machine for about twenty minutes. Well, it does not take a lot to ruin all the work one has done to keep in shape. First of all, I accidentally jumped down from a ladder and landed on a screw that went into my foot about an inch and a half. Then as I recovered from that, I developed heart problems that made me vegetate for a while longer. So tonight I attempted to dance after a four-week recovery from the hole on my foot and from some complications to my heart. Well, I discovered that my weakened body had a difficult time keeping up with the dance.

So I thought about something tonight. That is the same way with our spiritual body. The more we feed it with spiritual things the better it grows and matures in the things that God the Creator desires for you. As we become stronger, the more we will desire to do as He desires us to do. As Paul wrote, "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature." So the more we feed the spiritual, the more we grow and strengthen our spiritual walk. When we weaken our desire to do what God the Creator desires us to do, we grow too weak to do what is right and we begin doing wrong things. Just as we exercise our body to grow physically strong, so we can destroy our spiritual walk by committing to do wrong. So walk in the realm of the spiritual things so that your spirituality will grow strong and you will desire to do as God the Creator desires of us.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor of:

McAllen Grace Brethren Church
The Native American New Life Center
Chief of Chiefs Christian Church