Verse
How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
— Galatians 3:3 nlt
Thought
Try harder! Be better! Achieve more! Approach perfection! These are all messages that we hear every day in our competitive world. In fact, these help in almost every area of our lives. However, there is one area that they do not help — becoming holy like God! Yes, we need to obey God. Yes, we must offer ourselves to God for his service. Yes, we should yearn to be holy as God is holy. But without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to convict us, purify us, gift us, empower us, and transform us, we will never become like Jesus. While this seems counter-intuitive to the ways of our world, this understanding is the essence of grace. God delivered us from sin and death through the gift of his Son. We become like Jesus as we offer ourselves to God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our own effort, our own power, and our own perfection will always fall short of God's holiness and majesty.
Prayer
O Father, I do want to be holy as you are holy. I do want to live with your righteous character and your gracious compassion. So I offer myself — my life, my gifts, my time, my money — to serve you. Yet I know, dear Father, that these will fall far short of your perfection and glory and so I ask for your Holy Spirit to do his work in me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2016. All rights reserved.
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How foolish can you be? After starting your Christian lives in the Spirit, why are you now trying to become perfect by your own human effort?
— Galatians 3:3 nlt
Thought
Try harder! Be better! Achieve more! Approach perfection! These are all messages that we hear every day in our competitive world. In fact, these help in almost every area of our lives. However, there is one area that they do not help — becoming holy like God! Yes, we need to obey God. Yes, we must offer ourselves to God for his service. Yes, we should yearn to be holy as God is holy. But without the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives to convict us, purify us, gift us, empower us, and transform us, we will never become like Jesus. While this seems counter-intuitive to the ways of our world, this understanding is the essence of grace. God delivered us from sin and death through the gift of his Son. We become like Jesus as we offer ourselves to God through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Our own effort, our own power, and our own perfection will always fall short of God's holiness and majesty.
Prayer
O Father, I do want to be holy as you are holy. I do want to live with your righteous character and your gracious compassion. So I offer myself — my life, my gifts, my time, my money — to serve you. Yet I know, dear Father, that these will fall far short of your perfection and glory and so I ask for your Holy Spirit to do his work in me. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Devotional provided by Heartlight®
© 1996-2016. All rights reserved.
