Monday 30 Sep 2013

Monday Reading: Galatians 5:19-23

Key Verse: Galatians 5:22
22  But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

Devotion:
The difference between man’s ways and God’s ways is never more clearly displayed than in the descriptions held in these verses in Paul’s letter to the Galatians. When they are written down and we study them and we look into our own lives we should feel undone until we realise that we have a Saviour who has already paid for our sins. So many of us get caught up in what we have done in our pasts that we struggle to move forward and live in the manner in which Christ wants us to live. These two opposites displayed here should spurn us forward toward changing our lives and living for Christ instead of for ourselves.

Don’t be caught up in your past. Don’t be hung up in your faults. Don’t be pulled down by your mistakes. God gave His Son so that we could be forgiven and it is our lot to accept what Christ did for us on the cross and move forward in our lives rejoicing in the fact that He has set us free to live a new life with Him! Christ did not go to the cross so that we could all be terribly sorry and despondent; rather He gave His own life so that we can be set free to live for Him and to turn our backs on our old ways.

Yes we do still have that same sin nature inside of us and we will continue to make mistakes and to upset God with our ways; but we do have a choice as to whether we try to live for Christ and obey His ways or whether we just give up and sink into the pit of despair that Satan would have us in. When we give up we dwell on our pasts and we always remember the faults and mistakes we have done. But when we accept that we can live for Christ we will see some changes in our lives. We begin to like doing things for God. We begin to want to do what is righteous. We even turn our backs on the things that are wrong.

Once we do that we then begin to see that the changes that Christ has brought into our lives bear fruit, and those fruit are listed here. We begin to love others instead of turning them down. We have joy and happiness in our lives. We have a peace that Christ brings into our hearts. We put up with the mistakes other do around us. We treat others with tender care. Our faith in God grows and is strengthened. We begin to see how much closer we can get to God through His Word and we enjoy it all. Man cannot stop us from loving God!

Points to Ponder:
Are you accepting Christ’s forgiveness?

Are you bearing fruit or still dwelling on the past?