But I say, through the instrumentality of the spirit habitually order your manner of life, and you will in no wise execute the passionate desire of the evil nature, for the evil nature constantly has a strong desire to suppress the spirit, and the spirit constantly has a strong desire to suppress the evil nature. And these are entrenched in an attitude of mutual opposition to one another so that you may not do the things that you desire to do (Galatians 5:16 – Wuest Translation). There’s a fight daily between the flesh and spirit. We allow habits from our before Christ days that hinder our walk with God. This verse gives a key to overcoming fleshly tendencies. You don’t overcome a habit by fighting the habit. The more you think about it, the stronger it seems to get. You overcome a negative trait by replacing it. Walking in the spirit keeps us from fulfilling the desires of the flesh. Walking in the spirit means allowing your human spirit to control your moment by moment conduct. Walking in the spirit is not some ethereal life where your feet aren’t touching the ground. Walking in the spirit is walking in the Word. Being a doer of the Word puts the spirit, your human spirit, in charge of your life. If you have a habit entrenched in your flesh let me give you some practical encouragement on how curb it. Habits are overcome a step at a time. The first step is to recognize the problem. Many times we just let things slip by because these habits are so familiar and frequent. When the light of the Word comes, conviction comes. Secondly, find scripture, portions of the Word that directly challenge the behavior and meditate on it. Thirdly, repent every time you fall into this habit. Tell the Lord you’ve repented and then ask forgiveness again for violating your heart’s desires. Lastly, follow through day after day with recognizing and repenting after yielding to the offensive habit. Entrenched habits take time to expel, but it’s worth the effort. Before long, your spirit will win the fight if you just don’t quit! Walking in the spirit, that is, walking in the Word is the key to overcoming every resistance the flesh offers!