January 16 - God’s Spirit Brings Positive Changes To Our Lives
“Let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. . . . The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 5:16, 22-23)
Devotional Thought: What changes would you like to experience in your life? Would you like to make some changes in your health and fitness or in your finances? Would you like to make some positive and lasting changes in your spiritual life and in your relationships? One thing that helps us experience positive changes in our spiritual life and in our relationships is developing more and more of the “fruit of the Spirit” in our lives.
We all would prefer to be around people who are loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful and gentle, and people who exhibit self-control. And people would prefer to be around us if we consistently demonstrate those qualities in our lives. And the Lord would be more pleased with us as well. Because unloving, irritable, impatient, unkind, unfaithful, harsh people and people without self-control are demonstrating that they are living by their sinful nature rather than by the power of God’s Spirit. If we want to live lives that are pleasing to the Lord and encouraging to others, we have to learn how to allow God’s Spirit to guide and empower us so that we begin to develop and demonstrate His spiritual fruit in our lives.
So what steps help us to begin to experience the “fruit of the Spirit” in our lives? First, we have to acknowledge our need for change. Galatians 5:17, 19 says, “The Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. . . . When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear . . .” We’ve all followed the desires of our sinful nature in times past, allowing our sinful nature to dictate how we feel and what we think about and what we do. And, no one has ever made good decisions and lived a healthy and holy life when they’ve followed the desires of their sinful nature.
Second, we have to believe that God can change us. Sometimes we believe that we or others are beyond help and hope. But there’s nothing that God’s Spirit can do in and through our lives if we’re willing to submit to His guidance and help in our lives.
Third, we have to commit to letting God’s Spirit change us. Romans 12:1-2, “Give your bodies to God because of all He has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice - the kind He will find acceptable. . . . Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person . . .” When we take these steps, we will be amazed at the positive changes God’s Spirit will bring to our lives.
Prayer Focus: Lord, show me the qualities that need to be developed in my life; and help me to surrender to Your Spirit so those changes can begin to take place.
Follow-Up Activity: Grade yourself (scale of 1 to 10) on where you think you are with each of the “fruit of the Spirit.” Ask God’s Spirit to help you grow in each of those areas.
