13/11/11 Job 39-40; 1 Corinthians 13-14
S: 1 Corinthians 12:31-13:1,4-7,13 So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts.
But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
...
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.
Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
...
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
O: It's good and useful to have the gifts of the Holy Spirit, but possessing great gifts from God is quite different from having the fruit of the Holy Spirit -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23)
Sometimes we find people who have been blessed with flashy supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit like prophecy, healing, etc. becoming Christian superstars. Some of these people also manifest the fruit of the Holy Spirit to some lesser or greater extent, but we must not confuse the two. Back in the first few centuries of church history, there were already splits among the believers because of this.
Gifts of the Holy Spirit can come instantaneously, but fruit takes time to grow.
This passage shows how the fruit is much more important than the gifts. The gifts are only for the purpose of helping the church here on earth, but the fruit will last for eternity.
A: We need to daily take up our cross and follow Jesus, to daily abide in Him. The fruit will grow as we cultivate it.
P: Father, I commit to abiding in You. I acknowledge that I do it imperfectly, and thank You for Your forgiveness when I fail. In Jesus' name, amen.
Note: this is using the SOAP method. For more information, see this page (not written by me.)
No comments:
Post a Comment