Many of us pray that God will move powerfully through us to help others, and God wants us to pray this way. He has made available to us special endowments of supernatural energy, which the Bible calls spiritual gifts, to use for that very purpose. But I believe our first priority should be developing the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
The gifts of the Spirit and the fruit of the Spirit work together. One spiritual gift is the gift of healing. In today’s Scripture, we see first in Jesus the fruit of the Spirit, love in the form of compassion, before we see Him move in a gift of the Spirit, healings. First, we see the fruit; then we see the gift.
Jesus said, the tree is known and recognized and judged by its fruit. As believers, we are known by our fruit, not by our gifts (see Matt. 7:15–20). We are known to be Jesus’ followers by our love for one another (see John 13:35).
According to 2 Corinthians 5:20 we are God’s ambassadors, and He is making His appeal to all mankind through us as believers in Jesus Christ. Let’s make sure we show them love.
Prayer Starter: Lord, help me to be known more because of my love than because of my gifts and talents, amen!
Credit for today’s devotional by Joyce Meyer: joycemeyer.org
