Life Through The Spirit

It doesn’t take much time around the television or internet to know that we are being bombarded with advertisements about improving the self. (Is anyone else’s Facebook feed mostly ads?) We know that the multibillion-dollar self-improvement industry consists of a seemingly endless supply of cosmetics, strategies to boost self-esteem, fitness equipment, and weight-loss programs.To be sure, there’s nothing wrong with wanting to become more healthy. But as we have been noticing as we’ve been working our way through Romans, human nature is in need of much more than mere improvement. We need total recreation, and no person has the resources to accomplish that. But because we are sinful, it’s not a matter that we just need to be improved; we need something else.As we’ve alluded to, no branch can improve itself. The quality of its fruit depends entirely on the vine to which it is attached. That is why we need Christ and the Holy Spirit. When Jesus died on the cross, he took on himself all of our sins. “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” He changed the root.As a result, the Spirit of God should change our fruit. While we cannot change our past, we can ask God to work in us through His Spirit to change our future. We needn’t live in shame, but we can ask Him to produce in us all the fruit of the Spirit and to help us live obediently. As Colossians 3:10 says, we should seek to, “Have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”I look forward to unpacking these things with you this week whether in person or online. Keep up the great job of inviting friends and neighbors as we continue to see our church grow!Grace & Peace, Pastor Aaron