Living By the Spirit

“Now his older son was in the field, and as he came and drew near to the house, he heard music and dancing. And he called one of the servants and asked what these things meant. And he said to him, ‘Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and sound.’ But he was angry and refused to go in. His father came out and entreated him, but he answered his father, ‘Look, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed your command, yet you never gave me a young goat, that I might celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours came, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him!’ And he said to him, ‘Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours. It was fitting to celebrate and be glad, for this your brother was dead, and is alive; he was lost, and is found.’”

~~~Luke 15:25-32 (ESV)~~~

“If the elder son had shown love, he would have been both a wonderful son and a wonderful brother. But he got angry, felt more important, and he didn’t show any love and that’s why we don’t ever remember how good of a son he really was. Love is the right thing to do. If it feels wrong, it’s usually just because our flesh wants to be more important, like was the case with the elder son. The flesh is prideful and self-serving. It wants to take instead of give and it wants all the credit all the time. It is greedy and never satisfied. But, when we sow to the spirit and put our faith in God, we don’t live according to the flesh. When we live by the spirit, we understand that God loves us and is going to take care of us regardless of what others around us do. That’s when our faith in God calms our flesh to the point that we don’t feel the need to cut others down in order to lift ourselves up. That faith in God literally helps us to show love.” Excerpt taken from “DISTORTION: The Vanity of Genetically Altered Christianity” by Jesse Duplantis.