14 day plan

Holiness

Day 12 of 14

NIV

Galatians 5:22-25

22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Reflection:  In today’s passage from Galatians, Paul itemises nine unmistakable fruits of the Holy Spirit. Just a little earlier in the letter, he wrote: “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love” (Gal. 5:6b). For me, that sentence superbly encapsulates genuine Christian faith. Faith is key, but it must be alive – expressing itself through love – to be of any value at all.

Faith expressing itself through love is hard evidence of increased holiness – or sanctification. One of the giants of recent Christian history, John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, believed this strenuously.  He went as far as to argue that a form of complete sanctification was possible in this life – not sinlessness, of course, but being “the best that we can be”.

Question:  Since you became a Christian, have you noticed that you have become increasingly loving, joyful, peaceable, forbearing, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled?

Prayer:  Father, I yearn to be the best that I can be, as holy as is feasible in this life. Strengthen and renew my faith, through the Spirit. Amen.