Led by the Spirit
Walking in step
Paul names a mark of God's children that is also the engine of their formation: all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. The Christian life is meant to be Spirit-led — not self-directed, not merely rule-following, but a daily walking in step with the Spirit who lives within, responsive to his promptings and leading.
This is the dynamic underneath the whole forming of Christ's character in us. We do not produce the character of Jesus by self-effort, nor does it appear automatically while we are passive; it grows as we are led by the Spirit, day by day, in the actual decisions and moments of life. Walk by the Spirit, Paul says, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh — the leading of the Spirit is what carries us past the pull of the old nature.
Notice it is a leading we follow, which requires both his initiative and our responsiveness. The Spirit leads; we must be willing to be led — attentive to his nudges, ready to obey, keeping in step rather than running ahead or lagging behind. This is the difference between a self-managed Christian life and a Spirit-led one. The character of Christ grows in those who are daily following the Spirit's lead. Are you walking in step with the Spirit, or directing your own steps and asking him to bless them?
“For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are children of God.”
— Paul, to the church at Rome — Romans 8:14 (WEB)
Walk daily in step with the Spirit — attentive and responsive to his leading — rather than directing your own steps and asking him to bless them.
“Walk by the Spirit, and you won't fulfill the lust of the flesh.”
We run the Christian life as a self-management project, making our own plans and asking God to bless them, when his children are those led by the Spirit. The interior work is to shift from self-direction to Spirit-leading — neither manufacturing Christ's character by effort nor waiting passively, but daily walking in step with the Spirit, attentive to his promptings and willing to follow where he leads.
This week, practice being led rather than self-directing: before your plans, ask the Spirit for his leading, stay attentive to his promptings through the day, and follow them, keeping in step rather than running ahead or asking him to bless decisions already made.
Self-reliance is happy to run the Christian life as a management project — your plans, your steps, God invited along to bless them — so the Spirit is consulted but never actually followed. But Christ's character grows only in the soul that keeps in step day by day, and the one led rather than self-directed is carried clean past a pull of the flesh that effort alone could never break.
We tend to run the Christian life as a self-management project — making our own plans, directing our own steps, and asking God to bless what we have already decided. Paul describes something different: the children of God are those led by the Spirit of God. The character of Christ grows not in the self-directed soul, but in the one daily walking in step with the Spirit who lives within.
This is the dynamic beneath all formation. We neither manufacture Christ's character by effort nor receive it while passive; it grows as we are led, day by day, responsive to the Spirit's promptings in the actual moments of life. And the leading of the Spirit is what carries us past the pull of the flesh that effort alone could never overcome. But a leading must be followed — it requires our attentiveness and willingness to obey. So ask honestly: are you keeping in step with the Spirit, or directing your own steps and asking him to come along?
- Am I walking in step with the Spirit, or directing my own steps?
- Do I ask the Spirit to lead, or only to bless what I have decided?
- Where do I need to be more attentive and responsive to his promptings?
Lord, I manage my own life and ask you to bless my plans, rather than following your Spirit's lead. Make me your child who is led by the Spirit. Help me walk in step with you, attentive and willing, carried past the flesh and formed into Christ. Amen.