It is not easy to develop virtues such as self-discipline, patience, courageousness and lovingkindness. We may even get frustrated for still being impatient, unkind, faint-hearted and insecure no matter how hard we pray and seek God.
But the good news is, when we decided to follow Jesus, He gave us the Holy Spirit. His Spirit in us helps us activate these virtues that was entrenched in us beforehand. Like a muscle that is there yet does not become visible without exercise — courage, kindness, patience, and self-discipline are already ingrained in our system. We just need to activate them by exercising these virtues in our everyday life.
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.” 2 Timothy 1:7
We do not have to act the way we feel. The Holy Spirit empowers us to act in a way that honors God. For instance, we do not have to act impatient whenever we feel impatient. We do not cower in fear, and just remain stuck in our comfort zones, when it will glorify God to step out and carry out our mission. Just as not everything we think of is true, not everything we feel should be acted upon.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. Even in laughter the heart may ache, and the end of joy may be grief.” Proverbs 14:12-13
We can overcome the way we feel by tapping into God’s strength everyday. In praying and in seeking Him through His words, we get to learn His ways.
We can always pray for the grace to overcome temptations. For instance, we can ask for the strength to not say the truth in anger, over shop, binge watch, doom scroll, and mindlessly eat.
We can also ask for the patience to remain loving and kind when we are being treated unjustly, and when things do not go our way. God’s grace is enough to empower us to stay good, especially when we feel like we are running low on patience, love, courage, and self-discipiine.
“But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
Lastly, let us give grace to ourselves too. We are a work in progress. God loved us at our worst. He definitely appreciates the effort that we put in to honor him even if we fail from time to time. His mercies are new every morning.
Likewise, He already knows we could fail in our attempts to follow Him. Yet He called us. He chose us.So whenever we try our very best to stand up, after we stumble, we get to please Him.
“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians 1:6
Thank you for reading through our devotional today. I invite you to ponder on Jeremiah 32:38-40 and Ezekiel 36:26 to dig deeper on today’s
topic.
Reflection Question: Do you feel frustrated at times when you suddenly lose patience. Do you feel like you need to put in a lot of effort to change? How does knowing that God has promised to empower you, and that He has ingrained a spirit of courage, discipline, self-control, and love encourage you to continue making an effort to be better?
Conversation with the Lord: Heavenly Father thank you for enabling each of us to become better people. That all we have to do is to remain faithful to you, and persevere in exerting the effort to become better versions of ourselves. May you give us the grace and the strength to continue following your ways. Amen