But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a, NET)
In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Sam shared with us that the credible, Spirit-empowered Christian can be identified by their character profile. In yesterday's blog post we took time to consider the words of Jesus in regard to authentic prophetic ministry. Today, let's take a moment to reflect on the words of the apostle Paul regarding Christian character.
In Galatians chapter 5, Paul encourages Christians to understand their freedom in Christ not as license to sin, but as license to love others in the way Jesus Christ has loved us. Paul says, "If you are continually harming and exploiting each other, beware! You will destroy each other! But I tell you, walk according to the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh." (Galatians 5:15-16, paraphrase mine)
What does it look like when a person loves in the same way God loves us? How is this Spirit-walk of love expressed in the world? It looks radical. Why? Because, as Pastor Sam noted, it is a love that cannot originate from us. On our own, we are incapable of loving our enemies through our own strength. It is only the Spirit of God who can instill in our hearts the capacity to love the unlovely. And, when this love of God is demonstrated, it shows the world a particular 'character profile' that is unusual and attractive... it shows the beauty of Christ's love expressed consistently and authentically, even in the most painful of circumstances.
Is your testimony supported by your character?
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