“The way of life in the Spirit, the way of faith and love, is expressed through service to God and one another (Galatians 5:13)…A walk in the Spirit comes from life in the Spirit.” (Orthodox Study Bible, Galatians 5:13-15, 25)
“Acquiring the Spirit of God is the true aim of our Christian life, while prayer, fasting, almsgiving and other good works done for Christ’s sake are merely means for acquiring the Spirit of God…Of course, every good deed done for Christ’s sake gives us the grace of the Holy Spirit, but prayer gives us this grace most of all, for it is always at hand, as an instrument for acquiring the grace of the Spirit.” (St. Seraphim of Sarov)
“When a man sticks to the mere letter of Scripture, his nature is governed by the senses alone, in this way proving his soul's attachment to the flesh. For if the letter is not understood in a spiritual way, its significance is restricted to the level of the senses, which do not allow its full meaning to pass over from the intellect. When the letter is interpreted by his senses alone, he receives it Judaic-wise merely in the literal sense, and so lives according to the flesh, spiritually dying each day the death of sin on account of his forceful senses; for he cannot put his body's pursuits to death by the Spirit in order to live the life of bliss in the Spirit.” (St. Maximos the Confessor)
“…the Apostle Paul warns us against walking in the ways of darkness and encourages us instead to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal 5:16). He exposes the religious error of slavish obedience to rules…Rules constrict our relationship with God and others, negating the rule of trust and love. Saint Paul exposes the temptation to find self-satisfaction in legalism and… explains why we are attracted to “the works of the flesh” (Gal 19), i.e., living only by rules. He then reveals what enables us to fulfill the law and to love others (Gal 14)…Our relationship with the Holy Spirit… Thus the apostle links the Christian’s call to liberty with walking “in the Spirit,” for in Christ, by grace, we receive God’s call “to liberty” (Gal 13) and are empowered to “walk in the Spirit” (Gal 16).” (Dynamis 9/11/2018)
To truly “walk in the Spirit” you have to make your relationship with Christ your priority in life. It’s not that hard. You simply must make the choice. There is so much anxiety, worry, restlessness, contention, and angst ridden self reliance dominating our culture today. It is simply because people choose self over Christ. Yet He invites us to cast all of cares on Him and He will grant rest to our souls (Matthew 11:28-30)...Those who are Christ's, live and walk in the Spirit and the Spirit bears fruit in them: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control (Gal. 5:22-25).” (Sacramental Living Blog, Rev. Alciviadis C. Calivas, Th.D)