Willing But Weak

 

BYTES~ Willing But Weak

By Meaghan Spies

“Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.” ~Jesus. Matthew 26:41

 You have purposed in your heart to spend more time in God's Presence and in His Word in 2022. You started off well on Day One. But it's almost the end of February and you just cannot find the time for God. You know you need God. That's what the preachers keep saying, but you find your need for Him is not as great as they said it should be. In fact, you wonder, rather cynically, if they are spending lots of time with God or if they are just like you, Willing But Weak.

Well, let us answer that first. Jesus said, By their fruits you shall know them. When any Believer, preacher, pastor, disciple, teacher of the Word, leader or you, spends time with God daily, the Fruit of the Spirit will be clearly seen in that life on a consistent basis. Not perfect but clearly seen.

But the Fruit of the Spirit is love joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-25 

Please Note that pride, gossiping, disrespectful behaviour, suspicion, being easily irritated, being overly-sensitive, screaming at people, foul language and thoughts, always miserable, not a joy to be around, short-tempered, rude, showing-off, fake, increasingly self-absorbed, and the like, are NOT listed as the Fruit of the Spirit. If a pastor or leader displays more of the above on a daily basis than they do Galatians 5:22-25 you can know that they are not spending much time with Jesus.

Same goes for you. If you have a tendency to the flesh, if you see yourself in the above list, if you will not control your tongue, your thoughts or your actions even when Holy Spirit convicts you, yet you know you love the Lord, then you can say of yourself, I am willing but weak! Now Willing But Weak is not an excuse to stay that way! God will not receive your, But God, that's just the way I am self-lie! God, through His Holy Spirit living in us and through His Word, is able to transform us and renew our thinking, speaking and actions so that we are more Christ-like, if we will let Him. And we let Him when we show a willingness to spend more time with Him, in His Presence and in His Word, laying down our Weak to become more Willing.

Lasting change happens from the inside out. When Jesus spoke those words in Matthew 26:41 to His disciples the night He was betrayed, they were more weak than willing. But the more time they spent with God, being led by the Holy Spirit, reading, believing, thinking on and doing the Word, the stronger their spirits became over their flesh, the more they were victorious in what they did. (See the Book of Acts!)

The choice is yours. God will not force you to spend quality time with Him, neither will He try to convince you to become a powerful force for Him in the earth, to be victorious in what you do. God will not take away your free-will to be weak. But He is giving you the option of becoming stronger than you think, a person from whom demons flee, an influencer and thought leader who encourages many. Choice is yours. 

{Living Tip: Always choose the best.}

Meaghan Spies © 2022