Christy and I love walking together at Okatibbee Lake, both the dam area and the beach area. It’s beauty is unmatched in our area. There’s something about those walks that just settles you.

But early on I learned that if I’m going to walk with her, I have to walk like her. Match her stride. Match her pace. The moment I drift ahead or fall behind, we’re not really walking together anymore. We’re just walking near each other.

The same is true in our spiritual life. Apostle Paul says it plainly in Galatians 5:25: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” The Christian life isn’t just about receiving the Spirit. It’s about walking with the Spirit, matching His pace, His stride, His direction.

Verse 26 shows what happens when we don’t: conceit, competition, envy. That’s what walking out of step with the Spirit looks like. And it wreaks havoc in our lives and those around us.

Beloved, keep in step with the Spirit. Let Him set the pace, even when it feels too slow. Match His stride, even if it feels too short. Follow His direction, even when you think there’s a better path. Then and only then will you walk with the Spirit and not just near Him.

Change begins in you!