Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Strength and Compassion”
Our Bible verse for today: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
Our thought for today: “Pray for strength and compassion.
In one of the articles he wrote for “Christianity Today” magazine, Philip Yancey made an interesting and somewhat surprising personal confession. He wrote of how at one point in his life he took stock of where he was in terms of Christian maturity. When he conducted that honest self-assessment he was startled to have to admit that he was, in his own words, “selfish, joyless, loveless, and lacking in compassion.”
As a self-assessment tool Philip used Paul’s list of the fruit of the Spirit as described in Galatians 5:22-23. Those are the character traits the Holy Spirit brings out in the life of a Christian as that person grows in spiritual maturity and progressively becomes more Christ-like. When Philip honestly assessed himself in that way he had to admit that with the possible exception of self-control, he lacked evidence of all nine of the fruits in his life.
Deeply convicted and somewhat ashamed, Philip adopted the practice of praying Galatians 5:22-23 everyday. On his knees before the Lord he specifically prayed that God would develop these character traits in his life. Philip wrote of how he came to realize that the fruit of the Spirit cannot be developed in the life of a person by an act of that person’s will. In other words, you don’t get the fruit just because you decide you want it. It’s not something you can do for yourself. The development of those character traits comes about as the Holy Spirit is given free reign to work in your life and to develop your spiritual maturity. And so, Philip prayed. And in time, the growth came.
What does this have to do with our theme of “strength and compassion”? Go back and read that list of fruit of the Spirit again. When we talk about strength we’re not talking about physical strength but spiritual strength. We’re talking about a person who is strong in the Spirit. And compassion – that comes in increasing measure as the Spirit works in and through us. The character traits listed by Paul in that passage describe a person who is spiritually mature, strong, confident, kind, and yes, compassionate.
I encourage you to make Galatians 5:22-23 a regular part of your prayer life. Ask God to develop those traits in you more and more.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 