Christ’s Character

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. I'm Amy Boucher-Pye, and I called our reading Christ's Character. Following a challenging tour in Afghanistan, Scott, a sergeant in the British Army, fell apart.

He remembered, I was in a dark place. But when he discovered Jesus and began following Him, his life changed radically. Now he seeks to share the love of Christ with others, especially veterans with whom he competes in the Invictus Games, an international event for wounded and injured members and veterans of the armed forces.

For Scott, reading the Bible, praying and listening to worship music grounds him before going to the Games. God then helps him to reflect the character of Jesus and show kindness, gentleness, and grace to the fellow veterans competing there. Scott names here some of the fruit of the Spirit that the Apostle Paul wrote about to the believers in Galatia. They struggled under the influence of false teachers, so Paul sought to encourage them to stay true to God and His grace, being led by the Spirit. By doing so, they would then produce the Spirit's fruit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. With God's Spirit living within us, we too will burst forth with the Spirit's goodness and love. We too will show gentleness and kindness to those who surround us.

Our passage from the Bible today is from Galatians chapter 5 verses 13 through 26. You my brothers and sisters were called to be free, but do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather, serve one another humbly in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command, love your neighbor as yourself.

If you bite and devour each other, watch out, or you will be destroyed by each other. So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh.

They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. The acts of the flesh are obvious, sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other. I welcome you to join me in praying. Life-giving God, thank you for your Spirit. Please produce within us fruit for others to enjoy. Bring about in us love, joy, peace, kindness and gentleness today. We pray in the loving name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you for listening. I'm Amy Boucher-Pye and today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.