ESOCS Devotional 6 May 2025 – Living in the Family of God
MEMORY VERSE: “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:25
TEXT: GALATIANS 5:14-26
For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you bite and devour one another, beware lest you be consumed by one another!
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 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. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.
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Beloved, let us understand that every Christian who has received Jesus Christ as Lord and personal Saviour is in the family of God. In the family of God we are designed to live the life of love; that is God’s expectation of us. This is because of various reasons: (a) God is Love. That is His Nature, Character and Person. Therefore, anyone that belongs to God must be of love. Christians are born of God and they cannot have any other nature other than God’s. For this reason, Christians are expected to live and act like their Father by functioning in love. (b) Love is the fulfilment of the law of God. So, to live in love or a life of love is to live a life pleasing unto God. Galatians 5:14 says, “For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” This is the second reason why Christians should live in love because their lives are lives of fulfilled law in Christ Jesus.
The members of this family must realise that they are in Christ and in Him they have a new life. This new life has these signatures of God on it as stated below: (a) Crucified Flesh – Galatians 5:24: “And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” This is a reality that we have as children of God. It means that our flesh has lost the power to control us through its lust and affections. We are expected to believe this and walk in it through faith that works by love. Galatians 5:6says, “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which worketh by love.” This new life is one that relies on what Jesus Christ has done for us on the Cross by overcoming sin, death and Satan through His death, burial and resurrection.
Therefore, don’t allow sin to rule over you: “Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:13-14). In the family, you are meant to live a life of righteousness, and not of sin. (b) “You are led by the Spirit because you live in the Spirit and walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16, 18, 25). Also, as a member of God’s family, you should be led by the Holy Spirit if God (Rom. 8:9-10). If He leads you, you cannot but walk in the wholesome counsel of God.
CHALLENGES
- What is your relationship with the Holy Spirit?
PRAYER POINT
- Father, thank you for what you have done for me in Christ. Help me to live a holy lifestyle.
FURTHER READING: Judges 21:1-13; 21: 14-25; Galatians 6:1-6
ESOCS Devotional 6 May 2025
