Galatians 5:16

Devotional
There is an old illustration about two wolves fighting inside a person. One represents good.
The other represents evil. Someone asks, “Which wolf wins?” The answer is: “The one you feed.” Whether or not you know the original story, the principle gives us something important to think about. What are you feeding? What are you consistently watching? What are you listening to? What are you allowing into your mind? What conversations are shaping you? What habits are becoming normal? We are constantly being formed by what we repeatedly expose ourselves to. Paul tells us to walk in the Spirit. That means we cannot continually feed the things that pull us away from God and expect our spiritual lives to remain strong. If you constantly feed anger, anger grows. If you constantly feed lust, lust grows. If you constantly feed bitterness, bitterness grows. But when you feed your relationship with God through His Word, prayer, worship, fellowship, and obedience, your desire for God begins to grow. What you consistently feed will eventually grow. The question isn’t simply, “What do I believe?” The question is: “What am I feeding?”
 
Read the Context
Galatians 5 NIV
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. 6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
7 You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” 10 I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a]; rather, serve one another humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever[c] you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Footnotes

• Galatians 5:13 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verses 16, 17, 19 and 24; and in 6:8.
• Galatians 5:14 Lev. 19:18
• Galatians 5:17 Or you do not do what

 
Make it Personal
What is one thing you have been consistently feeding that is making it harder to walk with God?
 
Practical Application
Remove one unhealthy influence from your day and replace it with something that draws you toward God.
 
Talk to God 
Holy Spirit, show me the things I have been allowing to shape my heart. Give me wisdom to recognize what is pulling me away from You. Help me stop feeding the things that weaken my walk with You and start feeding the things that draw me closer to You. Amen.