“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Matthew 7:14 (NAS).
Walk on the narrow way to life
Those who do not find the narrow way do not find the way to life. Everyone wants to have life, but there is a way to life, and we must walk on this way if we want to receive life. What is life? “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil …” Deuteronomy 30:15,19. Life is the fruits of the Spirit, like goodness, kindness, love etc. (Galatians 5:22.) Death is the deeds of my sinful nature, like lying, cheating, jealousy etc.
There is a difference between the fruits of the Spirit and the gifts of the Spirit. Speaking in tongues, the gift of healing, etc., are gifts you can receive, and the Corinthians had all of these gifts. (1 Corinthians 1:5-7.)
But we cannot just receive the fruits of the Spirit, we must be obedient to what the Spirit tells us if we want to receive them. We must walk on the narrow way, where the Spirit resists the sin in our human nature. If we want to follow Jesus on the narrow way, we have to take up our cross daily and deny ourselves. That means that we always say ”No” to the sin that we are tempted to. Only a few find this way.
“Not My will, but Your will must be done”
No one wants to argue and fight. Marriage partners do not want their relationship to become cold, but it often grows cold anyway—they argue and fight. Why do they argue even if they don’t want to? It is because they have not found the narrow way to life. Impatience, anger, suspicion, jealousy, etc. divides people. That is “death”. On the other hand, patience, goodness, willingness to give and help, etc., binds together. That is life.
You think you should correct the other person by saying something that can change him, so he can become as you think he should be—but that is not the way to life. The way to life is to say “No” to the sin in your own human nature, so you don’t give in to the sin you are tempted to.
Then the Spirit gets power over your human nature. This is what it means to walk in the Spirit so we do not carry out our selfish desires. (Galatians 5:16.) This will produce fruit—you get life, you get the fruits of the Spirit that bind us together. The fruits cannot just be given to us. We can receive the Holy Spirit as a gift, but to have the fruits of the Spirit we must obey the Spirit and hate the sin in our sinful human nature.
This is the way which only a few people find! Most people do not find it because they do not see how bad they themselves are. They are busy with what they don’t like about the others! This goes together with demands that the other person should change, and “death”— evil. Our egoism is behind it all.
Jesus taught us to be servants and to forgive, and He prays: “Not My will, but Your will must be done!” The married couples that find this narrow way will discover that life becomes more and more glorious. Believers who walk on this way become one as the Father and the Son are one. The life that was with the Father—that eternal life—grows in them, and their joy becomes more and more. (1 John 1:2.) This is the experience of all those who have found the narrow way to life and who walk on it. Those who do not experience this are not walking on the narrow way.