Why Gritting Your Teeth Runs Out

Paul writes, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Notice how he frames it. He does not say try harder and you will not gratify the flesh; he says walk by the Spirit, and the not gratifying follows from that. Many of us have spent years fighting this battle mainly with willpower, teeth clenched, counting days, bracing against the urge by sheer effort. Willpower is real and it has its place, but it is a limited fuel, and every man who has tried to white knuckle his way to purity knows how it runs dry by evening, exactly when he needs it most. Paul offers something other than more effort. To walk by the Spirit is to live in ongoing contact with God through the day, praying in small honest bursts, staying near his Word, keeping the line open rather than checking in only when you are already in trouble. The freedom from the flesh comes as a byproduct of that nearness, and not as the prize for a hard enough struggle. This is slower and humbler than a burst of resolve, and it asks you to depend rather than to perform. Start smaller than you think. Talk to God this ordinary afternoon, before anything is wrong, and let the walking begin there.