I was walking to the local Post Office this afternoon, and I noticed a wall full of weeds. However, within those weeds were the daintiest of flowers growing amongst the weeds. What an image of beauty.
This reminded me that as believers in Christ, we are being weeded by God daily when we walk in fellowship with Him through reading the milk of His word. We might not have the immediate beauty of these dainty flowers as an example of grow in the fruits of the spirit, but Paul states what the fruits of the spirits are in Galatians 5:22-23.
Love
Joy
Peace
Longsuffering
Gentleness
Goodness
Faith
Meekness
Temperance
Let’s continue to remind ourselves through the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2) that we have a great salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord. It is His obedience unto Father God that brings us into a right relationship with God. Through Christ, we can boldly approach the throne of grace with prayer with thanksgiving, with praise.
It is just not possible to grow in grace (and bear fruits of the spirit for God’s glory) if we believe that we have a part to play in our salvation. We have no part to play. Our righteousnesses are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Salvation is all of God through the work of Jesus Christ. We are tainted by sin. It is impossible to please God through human works. We need to be sinless to enter Heaven, and only the gift of the Holy Spirit through faith in Christ gives us the sealing of the Holy Spirit.
We still have our flesh nature until the day we die, but when we trust in Christ as saviour we are sealed with a Spirit that cannot sin. This is why we go to heaven when we die, because we trust in Christ for eternal life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life – John 6:47
We may have only a few minutes in various segments each day where we are bearing the fruits of the spirit for God’s glory. We may not even realise it, but gradually as we walk in fellowship with God, and we walk more in the Spirit than the flesh, we will be changed into the likeness of Christ. Remember that these ‘works’ have absolutely no bearing on salvation, but they are works that will merit us rewards in Heaven.
Jesus Christ is the epitome of holiness and beauty, and we can be weeded of our carnal thoughts, actions, and behaviours when we choose to fellowship with God, and grow into the beauty of Christlikeness. We will not attain perfection in this lifetime, but we should keep our eyes on the eternal – the lasting treasure that will never perish.
