Morning Devotional 071925 Activate Your Gift Card!

Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room

July 19, 2025

Galatians 5:22-26

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires. 25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit. 26 Let’s not become arrogant, make each other angry, or be jealous of each other.

Good Morning! If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit!

Christ bought our freedom on the cross. This freedom is only possible because Christ loved us so much. Who are we to throw away or degrade this gift bought by Jesus as he endured the pain and suffering of the whole world? Imagine receiving a gift card of infinite value, with no limit! Would you stick it in a drawer unused? Unlikely! Before you can use a gift card, you must activate it. Once activated, it is available to us whenever the need arises.   

Through our baptism, this gift of freedom is freely given when we confess and repent of our sins and declare Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Through the Holy Spirit, we are being remade and molded into the beings God created. This is often a lengthy and painful process due to our human frailty and the tendency to seek earthly gains and wealth. 

When we choose hate, anger, greed, jealousy, aggression, malice, and deceit, we are hurting one another. Jesus came to walk among us, model the right way, and died to save us from eternal death. We are weak and we are unworthy of Jesus’ gift, so what can we do?

When we feel the uglies, like hate and greed, welling up within us, we must turn to Jesus and allow the Holy Spirit to reform our souls. The harder we fight our transformation, the more pain we choose to endure. We all have triggers that initiate these moments of weakness, but we have the power of God within us that is waiting to be released so that we may rise above these momentary digressions. 

Giving Lord, you bless us abundantly! Open our hearts and souls so that we make the choice to activate our gifts. We have the fruits of the Spirit available; help us get started.  Thank you. We love you, Lord! In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen

Thought for the day: Choose to activate the fruits of the Spirit that Jesus gifted to us.  

Embody the gifts of the Spirit daily! Pastor Liz