Part of the Holy Spirit's work in our hearts is to reproduce the character of Christ in us. We can never emphasise this enough. Paul often spoke about it. He told the Galatians his great hope was that Christ might be formed in them (Galatians 4:19). He reminded the Roman Christians of God's continuing purpose, that we should be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29). To the Corinthians he said that the work of the Spirit is to change us day by day into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 3:18). Christ of course already lives in our hearts together with the Holy Spirit. But think of it this way - if you and your family moved into an old house which needed a lot of repairs and up-dating, the place would belong to you and you would live in it. But to make it like you wanted would require a lot of hard work. Room by room you would work on it until it began to look like what you wanted it to be. In the same way, Christ is in your heart, but the Holy Spirit wants to make the home of your life look like Christ's. The true evidence of the Holy Spirit being allowed to work in you is found in the answer to this question, "How much of Jesus Christ can be seen in your life, your behaviour, your actions, and your reactions?" Another way of saying this is in the words of our reading today. The fruit of the Spirit is really the character of Christ being seen in us. Fruit is produced naturally by a tree or a vine showing that the tree has reached maturity. On some trees fruit takes a long time to form. On others it appears more quickly. That can be true also in our lives. It depends on our allowing the Holy Spirit to do the work He came to do. God's plan for us all is spiritual maturity. Growth is part of Christian experience. How much have we grown this year? |
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