“For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.” Jas 2:26 ESV
Do you remember that famous fast food commercial from very long ago, where a funny older woman shouts, “Where’s the beef?” She was looking for the good stuff. She didn’t want the bread, or even the lettuce and tomato. She wanted the beef. That’s what she paid for, the other stuff was merely garnish. Well, we can say the same thing here, right?, only we would say, “Where’s the Fruit?” Once we are born again, we must begin to grow to be more and more like Jesus. One of the ways others know we are truly Christians is by the way we handle ourselves when interacting with others. If we are loving, peaceful, joyful, patient, kind, good, faithful, gentle and self-controlled as we relate to those around us, no matter the situation, then we display this precious Fruit of the Spirit. (Gal 5:22-23) As we have discussed in the past, this Fruit is the characteristics of God, Himself. So if we are acting like Him in all sorts of circumstances- the good, the bad and the ugly- then we are being like Him.
So where’s the good stuff? If you say you have faith in God, because He so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life…and if you are starting to understand that, because you are in Christ, your are a new Creation, the old has passed and the new has come…then where’s the proof that any of that is real and true to you? You see, if we say there is something different in us, but we never display that newness, what good is it?
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
1- Jn 3:16
2- 2Co 5:17
3- Jas 2:26
<>< Peace, Diane
