DAY 18: CHARACTER AND CHARISMA I- GROWING IN CHARACTER (THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT)
30 DAYS DEVOTIONALS WITH PREACHER SAM
THE RHEMA WORD FOR TODAY
SEPTEMBER 18, 2022.
TOPIC: CHARACTER AND CHARISMA I- GROWING IN CHARACTER (THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT)
BIBLE READING: 1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-13
VERSE FOR MEDITATION: GALATIANS 5:22, 23 NASB
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
The present-day Christianity that we have now is an imbalance Christianity. It is either that they are after power yet godless or they are godly but denying the power of God; a Christian ought to be godly and also powerful.
It was Apostle Michael Orokpo that said that Jesus modelled character for 30 years but power for 3½ years. A man of power without character is a man not representing God well. And also, a man of character without power is a man not representing God well. What God desires primarily is character than He desires that every believer must manifest His power.
Our Bible reading reveals to us God’s primary desire- Character over charisma.
The fruit of the Spirit is just one; that’s love. And love produces joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. How do we know? Our verse of meditation reads thus, “But the fruit of the Spirit IS LOVE…”, and in our Bible reading it reveals to us how love is made manifest in us, “Love suffers long and is kind…”, these are patience and kindness, which are attributes of love. And when you read through carefully verses 4-7, you can find out all the attributes of love.
Love is a fruit because it was first a seed sown in our heart (1 Jn. 3:9; 1 Pet. 1:23), this seed is the word of God. The Bible says, “… the Word was God” (Jn. 1:1). And “… God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 Jn. 4:16). And also, “… the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom. 5:5). So if you’re saved, love has been sown into our heart and it is being revealed as a fruit of the Spirit to our fellow neighbours (cf. 1 Jn. 4:19-21).
If you are walking in love, joy will flow out of you, you will experience the peace that subdues every storm, a kind of patience that endures, your act of kindness will be evident to all, a life full of virtue, a kind of faith that prevails, you will have a gentleness of heart and a strength of spirit. It is by this fruit the world will know us (Matt. 7:16-20).
The greatest is love because it reveals the character and nature of God. So let’s stop pursuing power, because the day you got saved, you received power (Acts 1:8; Lk. 24:49; Jn. 1:12). What the Bible commanded us to do is to pursue love (1 Cor. 14:1), because love is such a powerful tool of winning the world to Jesus. And it is a more excellent way of manifesting the power of God (1 Cor. 12:31).
PRAYER:
SWEET HOLY SPIRIT, PLEASE HELP ME TO WALK IN LOVE AND REPRESENT YOU WELL ON EARTH. IN JESUS NAME. AMEN!
DECLARATION:
I BEAR THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT AND I MANIFEST THE LOVE OF GOD TO MY WORLD.
JOURNEY THROUGH THE CHRONOLOGICAL STUDY OF THE LIFE OF JESUS CHRIST:
JOHN 10:22-42; LUKE 11-13
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