March 17 – Acts 6:1-7; Galatians 5:16-26
Lesson: He Provides Spiritual Character
Dear Lord, bless our time with you today. Meet us where we are at, guide our minds, and hold our hearts as we search for Your truth.
First, do your own quiet time with God and 4R journaling. When you are complete, come back here for the lesson.
Request Gods’ help
Read Acts 6:1-7; Galatians 5:16-26
Record a verse that stands out to you
Respond to God
Today’s ministry is ‘Providing Spiritual Character’. Just what is that? Did you know that we are to take on a new character? We are to walk a certain way, talk a certain way and behave a certain way. We are a new creation, thus it makes total sense that our very character should change too! Today we learned about Stephen’s call to ministry. Let’s take a look at some spiritual characteristics.
- Verse 3: Be of good repute, full of the Spirit, full of wisdom
- Verse 4: Devoted to prayer, devoted to ministry.
We can see from here, and the passage also tells us, that Stephen was called because he had these qualities which meant he was full of faith and the Holy Spirit. This is what that new character can look like!
Okay, we are wandering away from Acts and make our way to Galatians 5: 16-26. And go ahead and throw a bookmark there, because we are going to camp here for the next few days.
I love all the verb-ing I see in these verses. In my translation, we read: “walk by the Spirit (16), “led by the Spirit (18), and live by the Spirit (25). Not once did it mention being still in our walk. Yes, yes, there is a time for stillness but what is required for spiritual character is to be: on the move, in progress, in growth, and nothing stagnant. We have to commit our whole selves to God’s will, not just a smidgen. Walk in the Spirit and He will guard you. Walk in the Spirit and He will bring you to Hope. Walk in the Spirit as one who is set apart and your character will be shining as the stars and joy overflowing. Just look at these next verses!
Ephesians 5:8-9,
“Walk as children of the light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true.”
Ephesians 2:3-5
“…we all lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved.”
If that doesn’t fill you with joy and wonder and light a fire within you to put on your newly given character… then… Pray!! But seriously, our old selves are gone, our new selves are here! While the Spirit gives us spiritual character, we ourselves have a lot of work to do too! That first includes daily repentance. Recognizing where we need to be refined and bringing it to the very God who can do just that. Galatians 5:18 makes it extremely clear what our choices are: either walk in the Spirit where it results in Christ like character or walk by the law that can only produce anything other than what glorifies God. It’s our choice. We can’t choose both. We must pick one.
We cannot be lukewarm Christ followers if we want to be as Christ like as possible!
You are not alone. You are not tied to your old ways, your old clothes, or your old spiritless self. You are tied to the Spirit Himself, who gives you all the tools needed to become like our Jesus. You are not left wandering a desert, with endless, undistinguishable paths to godly living. You are brought to streams of living water, green lush grass to rest in, and a path lit for you to follow. God the Spirit is before you (led), He is behind you (walk), and He is beside you (live). See Him there in every moment. Be brave, be bold, and be confident in Him who redeemed you.
Dear Heavenly Father, we stand vigilant watch and we pray that we might not enter temptation. Our spirit is willing and yet our flesh is weak. But in You, oh Lord, we have the strength. In You, we have the empowerment to stay the course.
What’s next?
As the Spirit leads, in the comment section below, share what He has laid on your heart.
Then join us again tomorrow to learn about spiritual fruit’s.
1 Comment. Leave new
My verse: Acts 6:3 “And so, brothers, select seven men who are well-respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We can give them this responsibility.”
My response: I love that these guys don’t have to have experience in accounting or food distribution. You look for character, Lord thank you. If we are well-respected (not known for foolishness and anger and impulsive silliness) and if we are full of Your Spirit and wisdom (yielded to You so You can work through us, listening for Your voice and not going our own foolish ways) … if we are like that, You can use us! Thank You for seeing hearts so well.