CONTINUING IN THE WAY
“Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh?” Galatians 3:3 NIV
The quickest way to tell one is trying to accomplish in the flesh what began in the Spirit is the striving that accompanies the said action.
When God authors a work in us, it is marked by dependence and not pressure. The Spirit leads with peace, clarity, and conviction. But when we subtly shift into self-effort, the tone changes, what once felt graceful begins to feel like striving. What began as faith starts to feel forceful.
Striving is often the symptom that we have stepped ahead of God rather than stayed in step with Him.
We do not graduate from dependence on the Spirit. We continue in the same way we began—by trust, surrender, and obedience.
Child of God, the Christian life is not sustained by human discipline alone, but by daily reliance on divine strength. The flesh always wants to help God finish what He started, but the Spirit invites us to walk, not to wrestle.
If the work feels heavy, it may be a signal to return to the posture where it began, which is to rest in Him.
Prayer: My Father, I thank you for this wisdom. I thank you for keeping me from drifting into self-effort where you have called me to spirit-dependence. I am learned in recognizing the difference between striving and trusting. Help me to continue in the way I began, which is of faith, surrender, and obedience. When I feel the weight of trying to carry what only you alone can sustain, draw me back to rest in you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• John 15:4
• Colossians 2:6
• Psalm 127:1
