As we have moved through these thoughts, the past few weeks, you may have noticed a pattern. Each of these characteristics, commanded of us in Scripture, appear together in a familiar passage of Scripture. After Paul encouraged the churches of Galatia to abandon the works of the flesh he said, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23).
Remember the words of Jesus in John 15:1-8. When we are in Christ, we are a part of the True Vine. He is the source of all spiritual life for His people. As we grow in Christ we begin to bear fruit, the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is not just for our own benefit but also for the world around us. Jesus encouraged His disciples to be the salt of the earth, the light of the world, and a city on a hill (Matthew 5:13-15). God chooses to use us, and our example, to bring glory to Himself (Matthew 5:16, Philippians 2:15).
If we choose to put Jesus first, and choose to fill ourselves with the Spirit of the Lord, we will find unity with Him and with the world. Of course, the world will hate us. They reject these wholesome and pure ideals because they reject God. Instead they seek after “adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,drunkenness, revelries, and the like” which lead them further away from God (Galatians 5:19-21). The people inside the kingdom of God refuse to follow the path of wickedness. We seek the straight and narrow road that leads to eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14).
If we will put away the works of the flesh, and bear the fruit of the Spirit, we will find unity. We will have the Spirit of God. When the Lord’s Spirit lives inside of His people, and guides them into all truth, we will stand united. We will stand up for the truth and we will preach the truth in love.
Now that we know what it means to have one spirit, we need to address one final thought. Is it possible to have “one spirit” as we work together for the cause of Christ? Absolutely, positively, undoubtedly, the answer is YES! God would not ask us to do what is not humanly possible. We can have the unity spoken of in God’s word.
There are three ways to unite two objects together. They can be frozen together, melted together, or stirred together. Some of us might be united through persecution, trial, and hardships (frozen). Others of us might be united through a burning passion for the lost and for godly living (melted). The only other way to be united is for us to stir one another up (Hebrew 10:24-25).
There is no doubt that you can make a difference in this world on your own. However, imagine what would happen if all Christians had “one spirit.” Snowflakes are one of nature's most fragile things, on their own, but just look at what they can do when they stick together. Imagine what we could do if we stuck together. Let’s seek after one spirit… the Spirit of God! Have a great week!!!
You are loved. Dr. Ray Reynolds #ReynoldsRap #WixBlog #authentic #Christian #positive #practical #community #God #Jesus #Facebook #Twitter #Instagram #YouTube #Reddit #TikTok #WWJD #GTKYB #Christianity #faithful #ReclaimingHope #RayReynolds #MistyReynolds This is part of an ongoing series on the Holy Spirit.
Comments