September 21, 2018 (Friday)
Galatians 5:19-24 describes two ways of living: “My Way” and “God’s Way.”
The New International Version puts those verses into these words: “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Quite a contrast, isn’t it? We have a choice. We can choose to go our own way or we can choose to go God’s way. One way of life is called, “The acts of the flesh” and the other, “The fruit of the Spirit.”
Which do I believe is better? My way or God’s way? Which do you believe is better?
Love – Devoted (to God, to others).
Joy – Feeling good.
Peace – Unified inside.
Patience – Not complaining.
Kindness – Sensitive to need.
Goodness – Giving gladly.
Faithfulness – Keeping promises.
Gentleness – Nonabrasive tenderness
Self-control – Managing emotions.
We once could say without reservation, “The right way or the wrong way” but our present accepted way of thinking has confused us to the point we are unsure about what is “right” and what is “wrong.” Not everyone is unsure about that. There are millions of people today who follow Christ and live by the principle of Galatians 5:24, “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
We live today in the same kind of world described by Longfellow’s poem,
“And in despair I bowed my head;
“There is no peace on earth,” I said;
“For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!”
Many people today long for the world that his next verse describes:
“Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men.”
The movement toward the kind of world that God wants us to have begins with me, in my own heart. And with you, in your own heart. God can change the world, but He wants to begin with us who claim to know Him.