God's Power to Change Your Life (Living with Purpose)

IT TAKES TIME One last point: it takes time for fruit to ripen. There is no such thing as instant maturity or instant spiritual growth. Time is essential.

Ask him to help you respond to difficult people and unpleasant situations as Jesus would. God wants to produce the fruit of the Spirit in your life. Will you cooperate with him in that life-changing process?

Love is at the core two things. First, it is a matter of choice.

fruitful Christian, that you want to cooperate with his plan. Commit yourself to reading, studying, memorizing, and meditating on the Bible. Ask God to use his Word to change the way you think. Invite the Holy Spirit to have free rein in your life. Don’t hold anything back. Pray and talk with him about everything.

We don’t have to like everyone (isn’t that a relief?), but we do have to love them.

However, we can short-circuit God’s power in our lives by not believing that God has truly forgiven us or by choosing not to forgive ourselves. God’s power is the power to cancel our past.

And instead of practicing self-control, we watch our lives falling apart. These are the contrasts between letting the power of God work in our lives and relying on our own power. We must remember, however, that the fruit of the Spirit isn’t something we work up. It’s something that God produces in us when we fully trust him with our lives.

Why is it important to feel loved by God? Because unloved people are often unloving people. When I do not feel genuinely loved, I do not feel like giving love. So first we have to experience God’s love ourselves. Jesus said, “Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:12). That is the model.

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does” (6:7 – 8).