Romans 8:12–14 (NKJV) ~ “Therefore, brethren, we are debtors—not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”
Romans 8, Paul explains what it means to belong to Jesus Christ and live through the power of the Holy Spirit. He begins by declaring that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He then explains that the Spirit brings life and that believers are no longer obligated to live according to the flesh. When Paul says, “We are debtors—not to the flesh,” he is reminding believers that their former way of living no longer has a rightful claim over them. They do not owe their desires unquestioned obedience. They are not required to follow every impulse, repeat every old pattern, or allow their former way of thinking to determine their future.
But notice what Paul says in verse 13: “If by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” He does not present spiritual growth as something you accomplish through determination alone. The Holy Spirit empowers you to turn away from what opposes God and to live in a way that reflects your new life in Christ. Then Paul makes the declaration that brings this entire journey together: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” In the verses that follow, Paul explains that believers have received the Spirit of adoption, through whom they cry out, “Abba, Father.” (When is the last time you cried out “Abba Father?”) Being led by the Spirit is therefore not merely about receiving instructions. It is part of living in a relationship with God as His child. You are not trying to earn a place in His family by making perfect decisions. You are learning to live as someone who belongs to Him. And this is where this journey reaches its central peak. You have been examining what has power over you, growing in maturity, exercising discernment, and renewing your mind. But now you must ask yourself, Who is actually leading the life you are living?
Imagine preparing for a long journey through unfamiliar territory. You have asked someone who knows the route to take you to your destination. You settle into the passenger seat and say, “I trust you. You know where we are going.” But the moment the driver makes a turn you do not recognize, you become uncomfortable. You begin questioning the route, pointing toward the road you would have chosen, and wondering why the journey is taking longer than you expected. Before long, you find yourself reaching toward the steering wheel because you are convinced that your way would be better. And there you are, asking someone else to lead while still trying to control every turn. Now, think about your relationship with God. How often do you pray, “Lord, lead me,” but become uncomfortable when His direction does not agree with your plans? How often do you ask Him to order your steps, only to become impatient when the journey requires you to wait, change direction, or release something you thought you needed?
You cannot fully follow the One you have asked to lead while continually insisting on choosing every turn yourself. There comes a moment in your spiritual journey when you have to stop asking only what needs to change and begin asking who is directing the life you are living. You may have recognized some old habits, acknowledged some familiar patterns, and begun making different choices. You may have learned to pause before responding, examine what you allow to influence you, and recognize when a thought is leading you somewhere you no longer want to go. But what happens after you recognize those things? What happens when you have to make the next decision, enter the next conversation, accept or decline the next opportunity, or respond to the next unexpected change? You still need someone to lead you. And this is why this journey could not end with simply crucifying your flesh.
You can stop doing something without knowing what to do next. You can walk away from an old pattern and still feel uncertain when you encounter a new situation. You can establish a boundary and still need wisdom about how to maintain it. You can recognize that a familiar response is unhelpful and still need the Holy Spirit to teach you a better way. Crucifying the flesh was never meant to leave you standing still, afraid to make another decision. It was meant to help you stop allowing your flesh to govern the direction of your life so that you could become more attentive to the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:14 says, “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.” Notice that Paul does not say you are led by every feeling you experience, every opportunity presented to you, or every desire that seems reasonable. He points you toward the Spirit of God. And that means you have to become willing to follow even when His direction challenges what you would have chosen for yourself.
For it is one thing to say, “Lord, lead me,” while everything is going according to your plan. It is another thing all together to continue trusting Him when you have to wait, when a door does not open, when an opportunity requires more responsibility than you expected, or when the next step involves a conversation you have been avoiding. Sometimes you ask God for direction, but what you really want is confirmation that the direction you have already chosen is the right one. You have thought about what you want, considered how you want it to happen, and decided when you believe it should take place. Then you come before Him and ask Him to bless the plan. But what if His answer is different? What if the Holy Spirit leads you to wait when you are ready to move? What if He leads you to speak when you would rather remain silent? What if He leads you to apologize when you have been concentrating on what the other person did wrong? What if He leads you to establish a boundary when you would rather keep everybody comfortable?
Will you still follow when following requires you to release your preferred way of doing things? Proverbs 3:5–6 tells you to trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, and acknowledge Him in all your ways. That instruction does not mean you should stop thinking, planning, asking questions, or taking responsibility for your decisions. It means your understanding must remain submitted to God rather than becoming the final authority over your life. Sometimes, the hardest thing to surrender is not an obviously harmful desire; but it is a plan you have worked hard to develop, an opportunity you have been hoping for, or a direction that makes perfect sense to you. You may even be able to explain why you want it. You may have the qualifications, resources, and opportunity to pursue it. But before you move, you still need to ask whether it agrees with God’s Word, whether it is wise for your present responsibilities, and whether you are remaining attentive to the Holy Spirit rather than simply following your enthusiasm.
Remember the question that began this new series, just because you can, does that mean you should? And this is where discernment becomes more than recognizing what is wrong. It helps you examine what is before you so that you can respond faithfully. My sister and brother, being led by Spirit, does not mean that every decision will come with an extraordinary sign or an unmistakable feeling. Sometimes His leadership is expressed through the clear teaching of Scripture. Sometimes you recognize that a decision would require you to compromise a principle you already know God has established. Sometimes you need to pray, gather information, seek wise counsel, and consider your responsibilities before moving forward. You do not have to manufacture certainty where you do not yet have it. James 1:5 reminds you that if you lack wisdom, you can ask God for it. And when you seek His wisdom, remain willing to receive instructions that may challenge your original preference, that willingness is part of surrender.
Sunshine, think again about that passenger reaching for the wheel. She trusted the driver as long as the road looked familiar. But when the journey took an unexpected turn, she wanted to take control. Sometimes you respond to God in a similar way because you are more comfortable with a familiar struggle than an unfamiliar act of obedience. You know how to respond when someone disappoints you because you have practiced that response for years. You know how to avoid a difficult conversation because avoidance has become familiar. You know how to take control when circumstances become uncertain because controlling the situation has been your way of managing discomfort. But now the Holy Spirit is teaching you another way to live. He may lead you to listen before defending yourself. He may lead you to address an issue instead of pretending it does not exist. He may lead you to allow someone else to carry a responsibility that does not belong to you. He may lead you to rest when you have become accustomed to measuring your worth by how much you accomplish. And because those responses are unfamiliar, you may feel tempted to reach for the wheel again. Do not confuse an unfamiliar response with a wrong response simply because it requires you to grow.
There is a difference between being uncomfortable because something is unwise and being uncomfortable because something requires you to change. That is why you need the discernment you have been developing. You must examine what is happening rather than allowing discomfort alone to determine your decision. Romans 8:5 says that those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. Your attention matters. What you repeatedly entertain matters. The assumptions you make, the conclusions you reach, and the thoughts you continue rehearsing can influence whether you respond from wisdom or simply return to what is familiar. Perhaps you have been telling yourself that if you do not handle everything, nothing will get done. But the Holy Spirit may be teaching you how to delegate, communicate, and trust others with appropriate responsibilities. Perhaps you have been telling yourself that setting a boundary means you are being unkind. But He may be teaching you that you can be loving without agreeing to every request.
Perhaps you have been telling yourself that you must have every answer before taking a step. But He may be teaching you how to act faithfully with the understanding you have while trusting Him with what remains uncertain. Your thoughts do not have to agree with every old fear before you can begin walking in a new direction. And let us be clear about something else: being led by the Spirit does not mean that you will never experience another struggle with your flesh. Galatians 5:17 describes the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit. You may still experience the urge to respond harshly, avoid a responsibility, satisfy an appetite, or return to a familiar habit. The presence of temptation does not mean you have failed to grow. What matters is that you are learning not to give every desire the authority to direct your choices.
Romans 8:13 says that “by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body.” You are not being instructed to rely solely on your willpower. You are called to depend on the Holy Spirit as you turn away from what opposes God and practice a different way of living. That dependence is not weakness. It is part of your new life in Christ. And Sunshine, you may discover that some of the clearest evidence of spiritual growth appears in ordinary situations that nobody else considers remarkable. Think about this, you receive a message that frustrates you, but instead of immediately sending the response you have already prepared, you pause and consider your words. You recognize that you are tired and becoming impatient, so you choose to rest rather than allowing your exhaustion to become an excuse for mistreating someone. You notice that you have begun comparing your progress with someone else’s, and you return your attention to the work God has placed before you.
You recognize that a conversation needs to happen, and instead of postponing it again, you pray, prepare, and approach it with honesty and love and those moments may not look impressive from the outside, but they matter. As the evidence that the Holy Spirit is leading you is that you handle an old situation in a new way. Galatians 5:22–23 describes the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. These qualities are not merely words to admire. They are evidence of the Spirit’s work becoming visible in the way you live. Think about what that could mean in your everyday life. Your family may begin experiencing greater patience from you. Your coworkers may notice that you can address a difficult issue without allowing frustration to control your tone. Your relationships may become healthier because you are learning to communicate honestly and establish appropriate boundaries. Your responsibilities may receive more consistent attention because you are no longer waiting until you feel motivated to do what needs to be done.
And this is when you begin experiencing a deeper sense of peace, not because every circumstance has changed, but because you are learning that every circumstance does not have to govern you. Romans 8:6 says, “To be spiritually minded is life and peace.” God’s peace does not always mean the absence of a difficult decision. Sometimes peace is the ability to remain grounded in Him while you make one. It is knowing that you can seek His wisdom, act faithfully, and trust Him with the parts of the outcome that are beyond your control. Now, as this series comes to a close, think about the journey that brought you here. You thought the conversation was finished when you completed Crucify It. You had spent time examining your flesh, recognizing what needed to be surrendered, and learning that new territory requires new discipline. But then you encountered 1 Corinthians 6:12, and the question became deeper: “What still has power over me?”
Hebrews 5:11–14 challenged you to grow beyond spiritual infancy and exercise your discernment. Romans 8 directed your attention to the mind and the life that comes through the Holy Spirit. And now you have reached the question that has been waiting at the center of it all; “Who is leading you?” Because you can recognize a problem without surrendering it. You can learn a lesson without practicing it. You can develop discernment and still choose to ignore what you recognize. You can understand the importance of renewing your mind and still spend your days entertaining thoughts that keep you on an old path. At some point, what you have learned must become part of how you live. And that is where transition comes with a cost. Remember that sometimes the cost is releasing your need to control the outcome. Sometimes it is accepting that your preferred timing may not be the wisest timing. Sometimes it is choosing obedience when the easier option is available. Sometimes it is admitting that you were wrong, asking for help, changing a habit, or following through on a responsibility you have been postponing.
But do not measure the value of surrender only by what you have to release. Consider what God is developing in you as you learn to follow Him: greater maturity, stronger discernment, healthier responses, deeper trust, and the ability to recognize when your flesh is trying to regain authority over your decisions. For the greater is not what you receive next, but it is who you are becoming while you learn to follow God. You can remain dependent on God while taking responsibility for the next faithful step. If you make a mistake, do not use it as a reason to abandon everything you have been learning. Acknowledge what happened, seek forgiveness where needed, receive correction, and return your attention to the way God is teaching you to live. Philippians 1:6 reminds you that “He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” God is continuing His work in you. You are not expected to complete the entire journey in five days, but you can choose to keep growing beyond these five days.
So, when you wake up tomorrow, do not treat this series as something you have finished and can now put away. Take what you have learned into your next conversation, your next responsibility, your next opportunity, and your next decision. Before you respond, ask the Holy Spirit to help you respond wisely. Before you commit, consider whether the opportunity is beneficial and appropriate for your responsibilities. When you recognize an old pattern, exercise your discernment. When your mind begins traveling a familiar path that no longer serves you, bring your thoughts back to what is true. And when you find yourself reaching for the wheel because the road ahead is unfamiliar, remember the One you have asked to lead you. You do not have to control every turn to follow God faithfully.
And the goal was never simply to stop doing what your flesh wanted. The goal is to become increasingly willing to live under the leadership of the Holy Spirit. You crucified it. You examined it. You began growing beyond it. You exercised your discernment and learned to renew your mind. Now keep walking. Let the Spirit take the lead, not only when His direction agrees with your plans, but also when following Him requires you to surrender the plans you would have chosen for yourself.
Let’s Pray:
Heavenly Father, thank You for bringing me to the end of this journey and for showing me that the work You are doing in me does not end when a devotional series ends. Thank You for every lesson You have taught me about crucifying my flesh, examining what has power over me, growing in spiritual maturity, exercising discernment, and renewing my mind. Today, I come before You with a simple but sincere request: Holy Spirit, take the lead in my life. Father, forgive me for the times I have asked You to lead me while continuing to insist that everything happen according to my own plans. Forgive me for the moments when I have wanted Your approval more than Your direction, when I have asked You to bless a decision I had already made, or when I have become impatient because the journey was taking longer than I expected. Help me surrender my need to control every outcome and teach me to trust You with the parts of my life that I cannot fully understand. Holy Spirit, lead me in my thoughts before they become words, in my emotions before they become reactions, and in my desires before they become decisions. When I am frustrated, teach me to respond with patience. When I am offended, help me pursue truth and love rather than allowing bitterness to take root. When I am uncertain, remind me to seek wisdom instead of making a rushed decision simply because I am uncomfortable waiting. When I recognize an old pattern, give me the strength to choose a different response. Lord, I invite Your leadership into every area of my life. Lead me in my family, my relationships, my responsibilities, my work, my ministry, my finances, my conversations, and the decisions I make when nobody else is watching. Help me recognize when an opportunity is beneficial and when it would require me to neglect something You have already placed in my hands. Teach me to distinguish between what I am capable of doing and what I should responsibly commit myself to doing. Father, continue developing my discernment. I do not want to make decisions based only on my feelings, my fears, or my desire to be accepted. Teach me to examine what is before me through Your Word, to seek wise counsel when needed, and to remain humble enough to acknowledge when I do not have all the information. Help me recognize the difference between a necessary warning and an old fear, between a wise boundary and an attempt to avoid a difficult conversation, and between an opportunity I should embrace and one I should prayerfully decline. Holy Spirit, continue renewing my mind. When I begin rehearsing an argument, remind me to seek a wise and loving response. When I begin imagining the worst possible outcome, help me return to what I actually know and trust You with what remains uncertain. When I am tempted to compare my journey with someone else’s, refocus me on the responsibilities and opportunities You have given me. When I begin believing that I cannot change, remind me that You are continuing Your work in me. Father, help me accept the cost of transition without becoming resentful of what I need to release. If I must surrender an old habit, give me the discipline to establish a healthier one. If I must have a difficult conversation, give me the courage to speak truth in love. If I must establish a boundary, help me do so with clarity and kindness. If I must wait, develop my patience. And if You are leading me to move forward, help me take the next faithful step without demanding that I understand every part of the journey. Lord, let the fruit of Your Spirit become increasingly visible in my life. Develop love in the way I treat people, joy that is not dependent on every circumstance going my way, and peace that keeps me grounded when I face uncertainty. Strengthen my patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let the people who interact with me experience the difference Your Spirit is making in the way I listen, speak, serve, forgive, and respond. God, Thank You that I belong to You. I do not have to earn Your love through perfect decisions, and I do not have to hide from You when I struggle. When I stumble, help me acknowledge it and return to You. When I need correction, help me receive it. When I need support, give me the humility to ask for it. And when I become distracted by an old desire or familiar way of thinking, remind me that I do not have to give it authority over my next decision. Father, I have asked You for greater, but today I also ask You to make me ready for the responsibilities that greater may bring. Give me wisdom to recognize what belongs in my life, maturity to handle what You entrust to me, and humility to remain dependent on You. Do not allow new opportunities, increased responsibilities, or growing confidence to replace my need for Your presence and guidance. As I move beyond these five days, help me continue practicing what You have taught me. Let this not become another series I have read and enjoyed without allowing it to influence the way I live. Teach me to carry these lessons into ordinary moments, private decisions, difficult conversations, and unfamiliar circumstances. Let my desire to follow You become stronger than my desire to have everything my own way. And Lord, when I find myself reaching for the wheel again, gently remind me that I have asked You to lead. Help me loosen my grip on what I cannot control, take responsibility for what You have placed before me, and trust You with the road ahead. My prayer is no longer simply, “God, take me somewhere greater.” My prayer is, “God, continue making me more mature, more discerning, more surrendered, and more attentive to Your Spirit as You lead me forward.” In the Matchless, Mighty Name of Jesus Christ, I pray, Amen.
Nugget: You cannot ask the Holy Spirit to lead while insisting on choosing every turn. Crucifying your flesh makes room for a different way of living, but you must continue choosing to follow. Release your grip on what you cannot control, exercise the wisdom God is developing in you, and let the Spirit take the lead, one faithful decision at a time.
Consider what you know from scripture, what responsibilities are already before you, and whether you need additional information or wise counsel. Then identify one practical way to surrender control while taking the next faithful step.
Blessings…
Love, Dr. Jean…
Have A Great Weekend
Discover more from Transformed at the WELL Devotional Ministry
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
