Don’t you hate it when the Sunday speaker seems to speak right into your heart? That’s exactly what Pastor Alvin did. If you haven’t gotten a chance to listen to his message or read his Monday devotional, please take the time to do so.
Pastor Alvin has once again given us a practical tool for learning how to live out a fruitful life. When I was going through the “Faith in Action!” exercise and saw “Action Step: When dealing with a difficult person, pray for them instead of criticizing them,” I thought to myself; so that’s how I pray without ceasing.
What Pastor Alvin is touching upon reminds me of the difference between living by the flesh and by the spirit. Let me share with you an experience that helped me understand what living by the Spirit could look like:
Before I accepted the offer to become an associate pastor at LifeSpring, I had an insightful conversation with Grandma Ruth Koh (Grandma because she reminds me of my grandmother).
She had heard that I was thinking about going full time with the church and I asked her what she thought about it. She told me that serving the Lord was a good idea and she proceeded to tell me that I didn’t need to be rich and famous. I paused, looked her in the eyes and said, “I’ll be honest with you Grandma, sometimes I want to be rich and famous.” She responded quickly, “That’s because you’re living by your flesh. If you’re living by the spirit, you’ll want to serve God.” My response to that was, “So that’s where Pastor Alvin gets his wisdom from.” We laughed and carried on.
Here’s what you need to know: Grandma Ruth is ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!
It is when I’m living in my flesh that I desire to be rich and famous. It is in my flesh that I want to serve myself and make sure that my needs are met. It is when I’m living in my flesh that I’d rather judge than extend grace. It’s when I’m living in my flesh that I want to harbor bitterness. It’s when I’m living in my flesh that I want to gossip and talk negatively about myself and others.
However, when I’m living in the Spirit, my focus is on what the Spirit wants and the Spirit wants to be with God. So if God is going left, my spirit wants to go left. If God says love others just as I have loved you, my spirit wants to follow suit. It is in living by the Spirit that makes me want to forgive others and see them through God’s eyes. It’s when I’m living by the Spirit that I want to extend grace to myself and others as Jesus Christ has done for me. It is when I’m living by the Spirit that I was to rid myself of bitterness because it separates me from receiving God’s love. It’s when I’m living by the Spirit that I’m able to choose kindness and understanding and speak positively about others regardless of what is being discussed.
Father, thank you for your grace and mercy in our lives. Show us how to live by the spirit daily and have fruitful lives. Continue to guide us and convict us so that we can experience the fullness of Christ in our lives. Lead us more and more into your ways. In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen!