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You Are a Work in Progress (Day #2)
I am sure of this, that he who began good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)
Sometimes we’re tempted to can the Christian life because it feels unrewarding. Growth seems painfully slow: the same sins tempt us, character flaws depress us, our spiritual life feels stale. We begin to wonder, “What’s the point of it all?”
During these spiritual dry spells, thanksgiving is difficult because we feel hopeless and discouraged. But Paul reminds us that our lives are under construction—and God is a faithful builder. “He who began good work in you will bring it to completion.” The “work” that Paul describes here is the process of sanctification, “the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (v. 11). God is transforming us, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to conform to the likeness of Christ. We are a work in progress.
As with any building project, there can be times when progress is agonizingly slow. When we experience personal difficulties or setbacks, we’re tempted to think that we haven’t grown at all. We develop tunnel vision, focusing only on the present and forgetting the ways in which God has been faithful to us in the past.
One of the first habits of the thankful heart is to remember—to spend time reflecting on the past and the ways in which God has been at work in your life.
Reflect: How has God changed you and challenged you over this last year? Thank God for the areas in your life that are under construction.
Scripture:
Phillipians 1:3-11 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, 4always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy, 5for your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now; 6being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ: 7even as it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart; inasmuch as both in my bonds, and in the defence and confirmation of the gospel, ye all are partakers of my grace. 8For God is my record, how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ. 9And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment; 10that ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ; 11being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ, unto the glory and praise of God.
Devotion Provided by Words of Hope. For more information, please visit: https://www.woh.org/youversion/
