As we journey on in this life, we are often surrounded with all sorts of worldly attractions. Some of us may be tempted by these world attractions, which St. Paul in today's reading calls self-indulgence. As a consequence of self-indulgence, we may fall into: "fornication, gross indecency and sexual irresponsibility; idolatry and sorcery; feuds and wrangling, jealousy, bad temper and quarrels; disagreements, factions, envy; drunkenness, orgies and similar things." All these things, as St. Paul warned us, would lead us away from God, where he said: "I warn you now, as I warned you before: those who behave like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."
Instead, we should be focusing more and more on what St. Paul describes as being "led by the Spirit." St. Paul reminds us: "What the Spirit brings is very different: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness, gentleness and self-control. There can be no law against things like that, of course. You cannot belong to Christ Jesus unless you crucify all self-indulgent passions and desires. Since the Spirit is our life, let us be directed by the Spirit." The question is: are we making conscious and consistent efforts to be led by the Spirit, or have we allowed ourselves to be stricken with self-indulgence?
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