ICS Daily Devotions
Train Your Spiritual Muscles
John 15:7-8 (NKJV) If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
Lockdowns caused by the pandemic could trigger plenty of negative emotions in us, especially if you already had a lot of pent-up frustrations over issues at home. However, this is also a good opportunity for us to work out the differences in love, but to do that, we first need to know how to deal with some of these emotions.
It is normal for people to have differences or disagreements, but how we resolve them will affect our relationships. When somebody makes unreasonable remarks at you, you can either rebut aggressively or keep your peace by trying to understand their point of view. Although your emotions are stirred up, you must choose to walk in the Spirit and abide in God instead of retaliating. Because we are a new creation, have the nature of God in us, and God has given us the ability to reign in our negative emotions and the work of the flesh, we can work on our emotional well-being by choosing not to be offended and let it pass. The more we exercise self-control, the better we will get at it just like building muscles by lifting weights till the muscles ache.
Galatians 5:16-17 (NKJV) I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish.
The key to managing our emotions is abiding and walking in the Lord. Godliness is choosing to yield to the Lordship of Christ by obeying His teaching, denying the flesh, picking up the cross and acting on what we have been taught. The Holy Spirit, who is our teacher, lives in our hearts and will instruct and empower us to make the right choices whenever we are faced with difficult situations. If we abide in Christ, we will bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control will be evident in our lives, instead of anger, vengeance, frustration, bitterness, hatred, impatience, being mean, evil plotting, betrayal, and lawlessness, which is the work of the flesh.
All believers have the fruit of the Holy Spirit in them, but choices of whether to allow it to manifest or for the flesh to reign are being made by us throughout the day, which will determine the atmosphere in the homes and in our lives. We will only prosper in our soul when we abide in God and not allow the flesh to reign.
Sermon Series: Work on Your Well Being
