We should be taking charge of our spiritual walk instead of waiting for it to happen. When God sent his one and only son to die for our sins, he initiated a spiritual journey for each and every one of us. God saw that we failed miserably with sin. He cared so much about us that he wanted to give us a way out of our sin. The death of Jesus was the beginning of our new life. So what have we done with this opportunity?
When I was younger, I believed in Jesus. I knew that he died on the cross to save us from hell. One thing that I didn't know was about a relationship that you can have with him in your life. The concept seemed foreign to me at the time. Why would God, let his son be killed so that we could go to heaven?
I didn't understand what sin was. Naïve, I thought that sin was just something wrong that we did like steal or kill someone. As a young Christian, I didn't put killing and evil thought in the same category. At the time I didn't realize that sin was everything that separates us from God. If you do not read the Bible to see what God considers sin, then you will have a hard time staying away from it. Let alone knowing that you did something wrong that should initiate a request for forgiveness from God.
A spiritual walk and the forgiveness of sin go hand in hand. Each time that you sin and present your sins to Jesus, you grow your relationship with him. Part of taking charge of my spiritual walk helped me realize what a sin was. When I could not accurately identify sin in my life, I didn't know that I needed forgiveness from it. Once I started reading the Bible on a regular basis, I saw how many things in my life were sins. Identifying my sins and bringing my sins to Jesus started to put my spiritual walk on overdrive.
Galatians 5:16-25 NASB “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
How should we be taking charge of our spiritual walk?
If you are unsure what a spiritual walk is, then my advice to you is to start reading the Bible. Everyone has their opinions on where to start. I chose to start in the New Testament. Starting to read in the New Testament showed me life after old law. I wanted to learn more about Jesus and what his expectations were for our life. Eager to read about his teaching, I ended up finding similarities in my life from reading parables. Having read the New Testament, I now feel like I have a firm understanding of what God considers sin. After Identifying the sin, now I have a solid way to remove the sin from my life.
Instead of walking down a broken path without many answers, it is now clear to see the road ahead. The more you bring things to Jesus, the closer you will develop a relationship with him. Your relationship will give you the understanding and guidance to journey through life. When you bring things to prayer, answers will become clear and more precise. When you start taking charge of your spiritual walk, Jesus will take charge of you.