TRANSFORMING CHARACTER
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stay true to the Lord. I love you and long to see you, dear friends, for you are my joy and the crown I receive for my work. Now I appeal to Euodia and Syntyche. Please, because you belong to the Lord, settle your disagreement.
Philippians 4:1-2 NLT
TODAY’S THOUGHT
We should pause today and remind ourselves that God’s Word is not just about developing correct theology to inform our intellect. God gave us the living Word to deal with our daily life.
We have been reading the book of Philippians. This is a letter Paul wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to the believers in the city of Philippi. It is full of great theological truths and insights. But the book is also very practical.
Imagine what it was like when Paul’s letter arrived in the city and the believers got together to have it read to them. That’s right, this letter would have been read and discussed by the entire congregation as a message from their apostle.
After the great insights in chapter three about knowing Jesus and pressing on towards the goal of seeing Jesus, Paul pauses to deal with a practical problem in the church family. He names two women, Euodia and Synthyche.
Imagine sitting the congregation and your name gets called out. Everyone must have known these ladies. Everyone knew they didn’t get along. They were followers of Christ, faithful in the church, but they didn’t get along. And Paul calls them out.
We need to remember that God’s goal in giving us His Word isn’t an enlightened intellect but a transformed character. When something is wrong in our character the Word of God wants to point it out and force us to deal with the flaw.
The Word of God should not be treated as cake for special occasions but as our daily bread for life. That is why it is important to daily spend time reading the Word so that we get daily check-ups.
TODAY’S PRAYER
Holy Spirit please help me to daily expose my mind to Your Word. Help me to allow Your truths to point out my flaws and weaknesses. Help me to respond quickly and appropriately. Help me to regularly be transformed by Your Word.
“Scroll down to share what you feel God is saying based on today’s reading.”
Lord help me stay true to your word by not leaning towards anger. help me use scripture to combat the devil and keep my heart pure and my mind strong in your name
I love that God’s Word is so practical. I can apply the truth to my behavior.