Conceited as it relates to envy

"Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."  Galatians 5:26

The first thing we should note about the verse above is that it is possible for Christians to provoke one another and also to envy one another.  Those two sins we might think should not be a part of a Christian life but if Paul warned against them it is to be understood as likely to happen unless we are wary of it.

The warning comes after Paul lists fruits of the Spirit and those are listed after he lists sins of the flesh.  It is remarkable to me that while walking in the power and grace of the Holy Spirit that we could become conceited.  Walking by and in the Spirit would seem to exclude conceit.  But the warning is clear.

We must be humbled by these possibilities of conceit, being guilty of provoking one another and envying one another, even while we walk in the Spirit.  "Humble thyself in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up"!