(Please read the above passage first, then the homily.)
My sisters and brothers,
“You are not living in the flesh, but in the Spirit.” For St Paul, here “in the flesh” means “according to our selfish human disorderedness.” What is this selfish human disorderedness? It means my own interests, my own needs, whatever I want, and my way over yours or anybody else’s. Those who live according to this selfish human disorderedness will certainly die.
Lying, anger, hatred, conspiracies, traps, drunkenness, wars, quarrels, impurities, making fun of others, making enemies, disagreements, insults, all these are selfish human disorderedness. All of them destroy.
The Spirt, gives life and peace. We have received the Spirit of God in our baptism. Those who live in accord with the Spirit will certainly be blessed. The Spirit of God gives us love, peace, joy, patience, friendliness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control. If we live according to the Spirit we shall flourish with life.
Now, however, we live in between the Spirit and this selfish human disorderedness. We have to struggle against this selfish human disorderedness in order to live by the Spirit. We want the gifts of God, but we are attracted to this selfish human disorderedness. We struggle against this selfish human disorderedness and often seem to fall. The good news is that our struggles are good, signs that our hearts really want to follow God. We would not struggle unless we wanted to do want God wants us to do. The struggle says we have good intentions and this makes the struggle good. If we would not want to live according to the Spirit, we would not fight against this selfish human disorderedness. Our struggle, then, against sin is very good and a sign that we are living according to the Spirit.