Setting Our Minds on the Spirit

To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For this reason the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law—indeed it cannot, and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
 
But you are not in the flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you. (Romans 8:6-11)
 
In this section of Romans, Paul writes about living in the flesh and living in the Spirit. According to my Bible’s footnotes, living in the flesh means “living a life dominated by selfish passions” but living in the Spirit means to live in a “community of faith where God dwells as the Spirit.” That Spirit dwells within each of us who have been washed by the waters of Baptism. That Spirit joins us with Christ in His death and in His resurrection.
 
We all struggle with sin but Christ has given us that spirit to share our struggle, to walk with us in this earthly life. I believe that we nurture ourselves and the Spirit of God within us when we become disciplined in turning our life to the things of the Spirit. Just as we give our bodies good food to eat, water to drink, air to breathe, we must also nurture our spirit with good things from God.God.
 
These nourishments come from
reading the scripture,
praying, and
worshiping God in a community of other believers.
 
Reading or listening to the word of God on a daily basis teaches us new things about God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit who dwells among us. It improves our understanding of the many gifts that God has prepared for us. It gives us spiritual fuel to face the day to day hardships we confront living in a sinful world.
 
Daily prayer is direct conversation with our creator. It is an opportunity for us to bring to God our deepest hurts, our monstrous fears, our biggest triumphs, our insights of joy, our struggles with “selfish passions,” our concerns for those we love, and our feelings for those we find unlovable. These prayers can be as big as a laundry list of joys and sorrows or as simple as a quiet moment of silence where we recognize that we are in the presence of God and He loves us.
 
Worshiping God in community gives each of us encouragement knowing that we have brothers and sisters who are also filled with the Holy Spirit but like us also struggle with our sinful nature. These worship opportunities feed our spirits with new insights of the Triune God through the readings, the music, and the interpretations of the Word shared with us.
 
Practicing these spiritual disciplines strengthens our understanding of God. This building up of our spiritual lives strengthens us in our day to day battle with the temptations of sin. Filling our hearts with God’s word, spending our time talking with our creator, and developing relationships with other believers are all fuel for our spirits and as Paul states in our lesson today, setting our minds on the Spirit is life and peace.
 
Peace be with you

Contributed by Debra
Monday July 16, 2011
Liturgical Year A: Week 34
Liturgical Color: Green
Sunday Gospel reading:
Lectionary 16 (Proper 11)
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost