“Everything is permissible for me”—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”—but I will not be mastered by anything.” (1 Cor. 6:12)

I hear a lot of preachers say “Christians can’t just do whatever they want and expect to be blessed” and I wonder, what is it people would do if they could “do whatever they want?” I mean if we were given a day to do “whatever we want” with no consequences, exactly what would we do? I, for one, was saved at an early age and my desires were saved with me. When we ask Jesus into our lives, our desires begin to change. I would not enjoy murder, adultery, addiction, strife, lying, stealing or dishonoring my parents. I don’t enjoy sin and if I slip up it’s accidental and always does damage to myself or others. So what do they mean we can’t do whatever we want? I can’t think of any sinful thing that I would “want” to do. I’m so glad I have Jesus and the Holy Spirit living in me to guide me into all righteousness (Rom 8:1,2) and that my wisdom comes from God to stay out of trouble and live life abundantly and successfully. God gives us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4) He plants His desires in us. Our desires are from Him as we pay attention to our new spirit. Our natural mind is unwise; and demonic influences speak to us and trick us into sin if we are immature.  But sin entangles us (Heb 12:1) and sin is nothing but stupid decisions.  An immature Christian who doesn’t know how to be sensitive to his new born-again spirit, continues to be led by his natural mind. A born-again person who continues in sin is just saved-by-grace-and-stupid and he is under grace.  He will make poor decisions and get burned because of his own decisions, not because God is unwilling to bless him. Like a child who lives for the pleasure of running with scissors or jumping on the bed or playing with matches, sinful desires are foolish and immature. When we grow up we realize it’s foolish to do things we did when we were children; we enjoy becoming responsible, being productive, getting a job, having money and living for long-term satisfaction. The same is true in our Christian walk.

In the same way, spirit-led behavior is wise and blessed because the decisions made by the spirit are smart. So I am doing what I want every day, seeking and following God’s direction for my life as well as I am able to hear His voice in my spirit. God has good ideas and exciting things in mind for us to do. (Jer 29:11) Why would I choose to live by my carnal, fleshly mind and old thinking? Why would I want to listen to the inferior thoughts of my old self when I have a better new mind of Christ?  So be led by the Spirit and you can do whatever you want!