Chances are that at some point in your life you’ve heard a well-meaning parent, teacher, or leader say, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Terrible advice, if you think about it. We are social beings, imitators. We learn every aspect of our lives by watching those around us. We intuitively understand that a better way lies in another overused phrase: “Practice what you preach.”
Following Jesus means a lifetime invitation to not just do what He said, but live as He lived. But how can twenty-first-century believers imitate a first-century rabbi?
Paul’s letters show us how the early Church navigated these questions just a few decades removed from Jesus’s ministry, death, and resurrection. Galatians was written, in part, to address the issue of rites and rituals to a church who had become divided over the role of the law in salvation. Paul offers this: “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). Trusting and walking with the Spirit offers freedom. It also makes things a little more complicated.
Instead of chasing shifting norms with an “in or out” mindset, life in the Spirit is a multi-faceted, intuitive path. One Spirit gives “different gifts” for the common good—wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, and discernment, to name a few (1Corinthians 12:4–11) It seems that in God’s wisdom He both gives a variety of gifts as well as incorporates a diversity of personalities, cultures, and styles for worship in His global family. But within this diversity, how do we discern what is actually from the Spirit when some things clearly are not?
Once again, the natural world has a lot to teach us through flowering, fruitful trees—“the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22–23). Just as an apple tree produces apples, a person rooted in the Spirit produces life and goodness. As the Old Testament prophet Micah asserts, it’s not meticulous rule-keeping God is after, but instead for us “to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
If the Holy Spirit is living in you and me, then we can trust we have everything we need. Sure, there are times when we need to lean on our trusted community to help us discern or humbly receive challenges and critique. Of course, we need to grow our wisdom to recognize rotten fruit, even if it appears to come from someone who claims the same Spirit. And we will need grace, too, for people who think, pray, worship and serve differently from us.
It’s freeing and difficult, and we will not get it right one hundred percent of the time. But thankfully, we never have to walk alone.
Praying for your family Mia and all our loved ones struggling in these difficult times. Can you please keep my 20 year old daughter in your prayers. She has an older car, isn’t a stellar driver and needs to make many trips to another part of our state for her clinical hours for school starting this weekend. The roads thru the mountains are really scary to get to her destination. Praying for safety for my daughter and all those traveling.
Tami C.I will be praying for your daughter. My daughter, Amelia, is graduating from HS as well. College seems so daunting, but we know that all things work together for good to those who love God…Trusting Jesus all the way.
Act justly, love faithfulness, and walk humbly with God. We are children of God, heirs of God, coheirs with Christ~
This devotional was so amazing today! I love that the Lord will complete the work he began in me, and that he gives me the strength to walk in his ways. I mess up every single day, and I am so thankful for his grace and mercy. ❤️
Also just curious to hear about everyone’s take on the supernatural gifts, prophecy, speaking in tongues. I am yearning to be baptized in the Spirit but don’t know if that’s even right to think that way.
Mia – praying for you and your family. May God protect him and put his angels around him. May His presence be felt by you
Also just curious to hear about everyone’s take on the supernatural gifts, prophecy, speaking in tongues. I am yearning to be baptized in the Spirit but don’t know if that’s even right to think that way.
Lord please help me to keep in step with the Spirit every day. How quickly I forget and respond to people from the flesh! Kelly (NEO) thank you for asking about my husband Rich. His oncologist is not concerned about the lung nodules and will rescan in 6 months. PTL! May I humbly ask for prayer for my 18 year old daughter Chela. She is struggling with anxiety and it’s so hard to watch. I want to take it away. She’s graduation and off to college in the fall and I want her to be open to getting the support she needs.
Happy Friday dear she’s. We have got some snow flurries in past few hours (and counting). It’s kinda beautiful :)
The reading today is so vast, but some caught my attention:
1. Do not desire vain glory (how do we know if we have this problem? If we have a tendency to provoke, and envy) (Galatians 5:26). Opposite of provoke is to appease (pacify, satisfy), and opposite of envy is to be happy for others and be happy for their good fortunes, success and blessings.
2- Joint-heir with Christ is our status. I honestly cannot fathom such a title. Joint-heir with the King of all kings? Me? Being called the daughter of God is already a huge royal privilege. And with great privilege usually comes great responsibility they say lol. But here, with this great privilege comes even greater inheritance. What treasure we have serving our generous God.
3- Faith works through love (Galatians 5:6). Faith is the unseen substance that we hope for, and is fueled through love (love is God).
Praying for you dear sweet she’s …
@SEARCHING: you have been such a big blessing and encouragement to me!❤️
@MIA FAITH: prayers against any evil bondages, voices/spirit of suicide be silenced, for God’s divine protection.
@HEIDI: provision for accommodation
@EMMA RAGETH: for your prodigal sister to be saved from risky and dangerous paths.
@MARY WALSH: welcome to the community! So glad you are here :) The comment posts are by time stamped, and we put names in front to those we want to speak to (lol), the response under each name doesn’t always work but that’s ok. Praying for God to help you in learning His Word, growing in love, transforming daily into His image with ease, joy and grace.
Be blessed dear sisters ❤️. I pray you all have a fantastic weekend :)