Is The Answer More Guardrails?

Galatians 5:16 — "I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Is the answer to temptation more guardrails? I once had the chance to teach a group of young men about purity. We were wrestling with how a young man keeps his way pure. One guy stopped me in my tracks. He told me flatly that he could not conquer his addictions. So I began offering practical solutions. He had a problem with the internet, going to places he should not go. I said, "Why not set up some guardrails? Why not put a blocker on certain websites?" He said he tried that, and he could get around it. I suggested an accountability partner, somebody who would know exactly where he was going and what he was doing. He said he tried that too, but he could find a hidden way around it.

We went through five or six different ideas or solutions. And every single time he looked at me and said, "I can get around that." Finally, I simply asked him, "Do you really want to be free? Do you really want victory?"

That conversation stayed with me because we do the same thing in the church. When someone is struggling, we say, "You need this guardrail, you need somebody asking you hard questions." None of that is wrong. But maybe, instead of adding more guardrails, we ought to help that person fall more in love with Jesus.

Galatians 5:16 says, "Walk in the Spirit, and you will not fulfill the lust of the flesh."

Galatians 5:16 contains an emphatic double negative in the ancient Greek text, which means you will "by no means" or "certainly not" fulfill the lust of the flesh. The rule in ancient Greek is that stacking negatives amplifies the negation rather than canceling it out.

"You will not, no never, fulfill the lust of the flesh."

The answer is not simply to resist more. The answer is to walk more in the Spirit - that's a positive command. The answer is to love more. When we cool off in our love for the Lord, the world begins to crowd in little by little. It squeezes us into its mold. How do we resist that pressure? By falling more in love with Jesus.

One man described it this way. Suppose I described your favorite meal - maybe a steak, cooked exactly the way you like it. You sit down and eat that entire steak until you are completely full. Then someone rummages through the garbage and finds a two-week-old bologna sandwich, half-eaten, a little mold on it, and holds it out and says, "Would you like this?" You know exactly what your response would be... "No thank you. I am satisfied."

In the same way, when the devil offers the children of God what tempts them, he is offering you that moldy, half-eaten sandwich. No one in their right mind would take it, unless they are starving. So what is the answer? To keep saying no to the old bread? Or to realize you have a juicy, made-to-order steak and fill up on it?

You cannot guardrail your way into holiness. But you can fall in love with Jesus. And when you are full, you can say, "No thank you. I am satisfied."

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace.

Reflection Question: Where in your life are you relying on guardrails instead of positively growing in your love for Jesus?

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I want to have victory over temptation. Help me see that the answer is not more willpower but more love for You. Fill me with that which will ultimately satisfy - You, Your Holy Spirit, Your Word, the people of God, serving others by Your power. Oh Lord, help me walk in the Spirit, so that the temptations of this world lose their appeal. In Jesus' Name, amen.

Adapted from "More Love, More Power": https://www.joshfranklin.org/media/98862zy/12-more-love-more-power-eph-3-14-21