Lesson 23: Seeking the Right Master
Read Galatians 5:1-26 - www.bible.com/bible/59/gal.5
17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality,
20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions,
21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

We ended our last lesson with the truth that we recognize opportunities only when we walk by the Spirit of God. In this lesson and the next we will see the difference between NOT walking by the Spirit and walking BY the Spirit. We will see what both sides look like. We will learn how to choose the master of our life wisely.


A famous poem written over 100 years ago ends with the words, “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul.” These words are often the cry of our own spirits as we seek to find what is best for ourselves. But while we dream of being the master of ourselves, the truth is that we can never serve only ourselves – we can never be the true captains of our own souls.

When we try to be our own master, we always sink into the works of our flesh as they are listed in our verses today. It is impossible for us to do otherwise. While our imagination can conceive perfection, we can never attain it of ourselves. Yet, though there has never been a successful case of perfection in all of human history, we also cannot stop longing for it.

I repeat, we cannot stop longing for perfection even though no one has ever gotten there. This longing is in us because God placed it there. He placed it there so we could never be satisfied with life without it. But the only way to ever reach perfection is to give ourselves to God – and then He will give us perfection in our eternal life with Him.

As long as we try, even by following the Ten Commandments and parts of the rest of the Law found in the Bible, our own efforts will always fail. We are doomed to frustration, even though we tell ourselves that just TRYING will be good enough. We know it can never be good enough, or we would be satisfied with the trying.

The good news is, even though we cannot reach perfection here in our earthly life, we can find peace in our hearts from God. We continue this in our next lesson.

 *How has God used this longing for perfection in your life to draw you closer to Him or to give you opportunities to share the Good News of the Gospel with others?