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Dr. Joseph Stowell, Moody's President, has been a friend, a mentor, and a proclaimer of truth to many. Implore our heavenly Father to give Dr. Stowell strength as he provides spiritual leadership to Moody's students and others who are touched by his ministry. Please also remember Dr. Stowell's executive secretary, Lori Imhof, today.
TODAY IN THE WORDThe great American preacher and theologian Jonathan Edwards once wrote: ""The truly humble Christian is clothed with lowliness, mildness, meekness, gentleness of spirit and behavior. These things are just like garments to him. Christian humility has no such thing as roughness, or contempt, or fierceness, or bitterness in its nature.""
The contrast Edwards describes is a concise commentary on today's text. When the Scripture talks about our Christian lives on earth, the two great contrasts used are ""flesh"" and ""spirit."" The former is enslaved to sin. The latter is that part of us over which the Holy Spirit reigns.
Paul leaves no doubt in verses 17-18 that the ""sinful nature,"" the flesh, is directly opposed to the Holy Spirit. In terms of spiritual warfare, we can see right away that conflict is inevitable. Like two great armies arrayed against each other, flesh and spirit are bound to clash.
Why is the flesh so contrary to the Holy Spirit? Because it is the sinful nature that we were born with, that we inherited from Adam. The flesh is Satan's domain. You can tell that by looking at the list of sins in verses 19-21. This list includes sexual sins, religious sins, sins of the spirit, and sins of the flesh. Paul says those who practice these things as a way of life will not be part of the kingdom of God.
If believers allow our enemy to gain the advantage over us through our sinful nature, we can be caught in these sins as well. The Holy Spirit's desire, however, is that we allow Him to produce His fruit in us.
Turning from the list of fleshly sins to the fruit of the Spirit (vv. 22-23) is like stepping from a dirty alley into a beautiful, fragrant garden. This nine-fold manifestation of the Spirit's work within us contains almost every virtue we need to live a life pleasing to the Lord.
TODAY ALONG THE WAYMost of us can remember times when we felt a special need for one portion of the fruit of the Spirit. Or we may have had a special desire for God to develop that virtue in us.
That may be the case for you today. Although the goal is that we reflect the entire array of the Spirit's fruit, sometimes it helps to concentrate on one area for awhile.
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