Session 9

How to leave darkness behind

From Chasing Purpose: A 27-Day Devotional

Plants grow and change every day. God has put miraculous systems in place whereby plants put forth new leaves, bear fruit, and spread deeper roots.

Like the plants in our houses and yards, God intends for us to grow, bear fruit, and dig deep roots. As we read the Bible, it reads us. When we meditate on it, it exposes the dark places inside us, calling us to change and become pure and holy like God intends. But what do purity and holiness look like?

Galatians says that in our sinful nature we gravitate toward “sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.” Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we leave those selfish acts behind. Like a tree, we produce good spiritual fruit: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self–control.”

We dig deep roots as we read the Bible, pray, and learn from others in the church. Our growth is marked by unselfishness, seeking others’ good, and bringing glory to God.

In John 8:12, Jesus told his followers, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 1 John explains that we cannot have fellowship with God if we walk in darkness. If we live at peace with our sinful nature and pursue its desires, we walk in darkness.

Walking in the light requires us to weed out our sinful nature. God will help us, “purify[ing] us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). But just as a plant takes time to grow upward and spread its branches and roots, we grow in the power and grace of God over time.

Reflect:

• How have you changed since becoming a Christian? How has reading the Bible and talking to God in prayer played a part in that transformation?
  
• Looking back at Galatians 5, is there anything God might want to weed out of you?