Category: living by faith

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.   – Galatians 5:22-23 NIV

Sometimes we misunderstand “fruit of the Spirit” because we say “fruits of the Spirit.” This difference seems like such a small thing, but, unfortunately, this small thing can lead us to a dangerously false conclusion. The fruit of the Spirit involves all nine of these qualities. We can’t excuse a lack of growth in one area or another as simply not having all the fruits of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is working to create the character of Jesus in us (2 Corinthians 3:18; see also Galatians 4:19). He wants to see us growing in each area; we should not excuse ourselves from any one of these qualities of Jesus. I don’t know about you, but there are several areas in which I need to grow — but I believe the Spirit is making progress in them. Let’s keep encouraging each other to let the Spirit lead us to become more and more like Jesus in every way!

Precious Father, God Most High, thank you for your patience, grace, and forgiveness. I want the Holy Spirit to lead me and empower me to grow in every way, but especially so that I can be more and more like Jesus in love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Thank you for hearing my prayer offered in Jesus’ name. Amen.

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
– Hebrews 1:3

Jesus was God with us. No imitation, knock off, or clone, he was God with us. To this day, he sustains all creation with his word — so much for “Mother Nature.” But now God-with-us has paid for our sins and is not just God-with-us, but he is also God-for-us at the Father’s side.

Precious Lord, as you have so many times in the past, you take these humble human words and bring them to the Father as my friend and brother. Thank you for your sacrifice for my sins. Thank you for your sustaining presence in our universe. Thank you for your daily intercession. Thank you for being God-for-me at the Father’s side. To the glorious, majestic and holy God, who sent Jesus as Savior, be glory, honor, and adoration forever and ever. Amen.

We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
– 1 Thessalonians 1:3

In a world that falls for facades and seems to give more credit for intentions than actions, don’t you find it refreshing that Paul expects that faith, hope, and love will naturally produce certain actions.

Mighty God of deliverance, I want to honor you with a life of observable faith, hope, and love. Please revive and refresh me with your Holy Spirit so that my life will be full of the actions that your grace and character inspire. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

If, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life.
– Romans 5:10

Jesus didn’t just die for my sins; he lives for me. In fact, he is at God’s right hand claiming me as his own (see 1 John 2:1-2). If he was willing to die to save me, what will he withhold now that he lives victorious over death?

Holy and Righteous Father, I thank you for Jesus who is at your side and who knows my heart, my struggles, and my world. I thank you for your constant care and protection through all of my difficulties and triumphs. Please make your presence known more clearly today than ever before as I try to serve you with wholehearted devotion. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
–  Galatians 2:20

When we were baptized into Christ, we shared in his crucifixion and we were raised up to be a new person. Christ is alive in us. The real challenge is for us to be Christ alive in our world! Our motivation? Not to earn salvation, which has already been given us by grace, but to honor him who sacrificed all to save us. (See Romans 6:1-14)

Thank you, God, for loving me and sending Jesus to redeem me from my sin. I commit to you today that I will live by faith in your Son who gave himself so I can spend eternity with you. I ask that by your Spirit, you help Jesus’ life be seen in me. Through him I pray. Amen.

He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and he carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
– Isaiah 53:3-4

Jesus was everything and became nothing for us. Yet most of the people who were on earth that he came to save didn’t know him or accept him. The crowds just assumed he deserved what he got. Most did not repent. But there was something about that sacrificial story that has grabbed hearts over the years and called God’s lost children home. In our journey home, we find him to not only be a Savior, but a servant for our salvation as well.

God Almighty, your plan to redeem me takes my breath away. Why you chose to take your precious son and expose him to such public disgrace while he was on earth I will never comprehend. But this I do know: you love me with an everlasting love and I will serve you with all of my strength in thanks for his great sacrifice. Thank you for your love. In the name of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior, I pray. Amen.

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations.”
– Matthew 12:18 NIV

Matthew is quoting a prophecy from Isaiah 42, applying it to Jesus in a time of rising conflict. In spite of the conflict, Jesus refuses to stop ministering even though he is under intense scrutiny and faced fierce opposition. Instead, he takes his closest followers and teaches them his will and shares his healing grace with those who are in need. With God’s approval and the power of the Holy Spirit upon him, he cares for the broken in the face of hostility and shares grace in the face of criticism. Through kindness, compassion, integrity, and passion, Jesus accomplishes what only Immanuel can do — he brings God’s grace and social justice to all nations — and he does it even under unfair scrutiny because the Father has empowered him through the Holy Spirit!

Father, we confess that we sometimes give in to fear. We fear aging and illness. We fear the crazy swings in the economy. We fear the legal opposition to practicing our faith openly in our schools, at work, or online. We confess that when we fear these things, we forget that you are still at work in our world and in us. Give us courage and tenderness through the work of your Spirit within us so that we will minister as Jesus did, including in times of opposition and hardship. In Jesus’ name, we request this grace. Amen.