Читать книгу When Hearts Heal - Linda K. Estes - Страница 21

17…FAMILY RESEMBLANCE

Good morning! I was looking through some old pictures when I came across one I didn’t remember. Upon further investigation I realized it wasn’t me in the picture but my sister. Wow, I guess you could say that there was a strong family resemblance. lol. It seems like my sister and I look more alike the older we get.

That same thing is true with our family resemblance with the Lord. When we first become God’s children upon the acceptance of asking Jesus to be our Lord and Savior, we might not look a lot like Jesus. But as we learn more about God and grow in our faith, we begin to act, think and look more Christ-like.

I love how the Lord doesn’t leave us guessing on what Christ-like looks like. Galatians 5:22-24 tells us what characteristics a believer should exhibit. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”

No, we won’t always show all of those characteristics. We’re still human which means we will fall short of these sometimes but as we grow more and more in the Lord, these nine beauties will be more prevalent in our lives. My prayer for us today is that we would be mindful of those things that should set us apart from non-believers. May we make a conscience effort to show the love of Christ to others today through the fruits of the Spirit. Here’s to striving for that strong family resemblance!

Lord, as we go throughout our day, please help us live a life where others are drawn to You by the fruits of the Spirit they see in our life. And Lord, please forgive us for all the times when we fall short and the fruit that others see in our live appears to be rotten. Amen.