Monday 29, July 2013
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:19-26
KEY VERSE: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another” (Galatians 5:25,26).
Dr. Charles Weigle, the composer of the favourite hymn, “No one ever cared for me like Jesus” once visited Pasadena, California. Early that morning, he had an opportunity to walk through some of the famous rose gardens when the full fragrance of the flowers filled the air. Later in the day, he arrived at the hotel where a Bible conference was being held. As he took his seat, a man turned to him and said, “Dr. Weigle, I know where you’ve been. You toured one of our lovely gardens, for I can smell the pleasant aroma on your clothing.”
The Spirit produces character traits which are found in the nature of Christ. They are the by-products of a life anchored in Christ, by-products that can never be cultivated without abiding fully in Him. If we want the fruit of the Spirit to grow in us, we must join our lives to His, know Him, love Him, remember Him and imitate Him. The result will be that we will fulfill the intended purpose of the law – absolute love for God and man.
Those who profess to have received the Spirit of Christ ought to make manifest proper fruit of the Spirit evidenced by Spirit-inspired principles and godly practices. Paul the Apostle went further to caution the Galatian Christians against pride and vainglory. This, according to him, would lead them to provoke and envy one another. The glory that comes from men is fleeting and sensual.
Many have narrowed fruit-bearing to mere service. How mistaken such are because every item of the fruit of the Spirit has to do with character and behaviour. Hence, walking and living in the Spirit involves the manifestation of Christ-likeness of character that is made possible through the vicarious death of the Saviour on the cross at Calvary.
Our ultimate resolve must be to walk so closely with the Lord that the fragrance of His grace undergirds everything in our lives. That done, people around us will surely acknowledge that we have been with Jesus.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Christ in the believer is the hope of glory.
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