Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh. For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things. Galatians 5:16-23
“It was said of an old man that for fifty years he had neither eaten bread nor drunk wine readily. He even said, ‘I have destroyed fornication, avarice and vain-glory in myself.’ Learning that he had said this, Abba Abraham came and said to him, ‘Did you really say that?’ He answered, ‘Yes.’
Then Abba Abraham said to him, ‘If you were to find a woman lying on your mat when you entered your cell would you think that it is not a woman?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘But I should struggle against my thoughts so as not to touch her.’ Then Abba Abraham said, ‘Then you have not destroyed the passion, but it still lives in you although it is controlled.
Again, if you are walking along and you see some gold amongst the stones and shells, can your spirit regard them all as of equal value?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘But I would struggle against my thoughts, so as not to take the gold.’ The old man said to him, ‘See, avarice still lives in you, though it is controlled.’
Abba Abraham continued, ‘Suppose you learn that of two brothers one loves you while the other hates you, and speaks evil of you; if they come to see you, will you receive them both with the same love?’ ‘No,’ he replied, ‘But I should struggle against my thoughts so as to be as kind towards the one who hates me as towards the one who loves me.’
Abba Abraham said to him, ‘So then, the passions continue to live; it is simply that they are controlled by the saints.'”
Abba Abraham, a desert father in The Sayings of the Desert Fathers, translated by Benedicta Ward (Kalamazoo: Cistercian, 1975) 33-34.
I am back to reading this book on the Desert Fathers. I appreciated this interchange between Abba Abraham and his guest.
The flesh and the Spirit wage war within us. One fruit of the Spirit is self-control. If we are not so controlled, temptations will overcome us.
Related to generosity, we are constantly wooed by shiny things, like gold among the stones and shells. But let us not be overcome by avarice and greed.
Neither let vain-glory captivate you and be kind and generous to all. Let us keep in step with the Spirit, allowing God to work in and through us.
God help us be controlled by you in all we say and do.