The word used here for spirit can refer to all forms of passion, but also directly speaks to anger. Our prisons are filled with men and women who acted on impulse and desire. How often do we hear the phrase, “a crime of passion”? It’s true that too many people, including believers, have not developed a God-honoring degree of self-control. It’s also true that Scripture tells us that it is for freedom that Christ has set us free. However, we can at times seize on that same freedom to infer that there is no legitimate outside authority in our life which has permission to tell us what to do. Kids raised without healthy boundaries or authority in their lives become adults who are a risk to themselves and others. In the same passage where Paul tells us we were set free, he reminds us that it was our passions that held us in slavery and to not allow that to happen again. Today, live free in the safety of God’s Spirit-led control.
“So, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 NASB
