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God’s power in our lives was a focus in my Bible devotional this morning. I read from a first century (108 A.D.) letter from Polycarp (written to the Philippians), along with the Apostle Paul's words in Romans, chapter 8.
Polycarp’s letter to the Philippians emphasized, in part, the importance for us, as Christians, to live a life to the Glory of God and to not fall in with “the crowd.” The crowd pursue the things of this world and seek to satisfy their own desires.
Polycarp warned, even as Christians, we need to be careful because we are all susceptible to being pulled off course if we allow our hearts to become enamored by “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.” Polycarp underscored that exercising Spirit-empowered self-control is critical to maintaining a strong and faithful walk with the Lord.
As I thought about this, I had a greater appreciation for the Apostle Paul's encouragement to Believers concerning the empowering of the Holy Spirit within our lives. In Romans 8, Paul reminded that, through Christ, we’ve been freed from sin and that we were also, simultaneous were born of the Spirit.
By God’s Spirit living in us – we have real power, beyond ourselves, to be able to exercise self-control (to the Glory of God) and to walk in freedom from sin. We no longer have to be dominated and controlled by our sin nature, but we can walk in the power of God’s life-giving spirit.
This brings me a lot of confidence! If we allow God’s promised power to work in and through us, we can be powerful instruments that genuinely express the love of God to those in our lives.