Our Daily Bread 16th November 2020 Devotional Message
You are reading Today’s Message on Our Daily Bread Devotional for Monday, 16th November 2020
Topic: Borrowed Shoes
Today’s Scripture: Galatians 5:13–26(NIV)
Bible in a Year: Ezekiel 3–4; Hebrews 11:20–40
Key Verse: Serve one another humbly in love. – Galatians 5:13
Today’s Insight: We’re all born with a sinful nature inherited from Adam (Psalm 51:5; Romans 5:12, 14), but those who place their trust in Jesus for salvation are “born of the Spirit” (John 3:8) and receive a new nature (1:13; Titus 3:5). This new “divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4) is “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:24). In Galatians 5, Paul warns that our flesh (sinful habits) continues to oppose the indwelling Spirit (v. 17). To “put to death” our earthly nature (Colossians 3:5), we must walk and live by the Spirit, keeping in step with Him as He leads and directs us (Galatians 5:16, 18, 25).
Our Daily Bread 16th November 2020 Devotional Message:
In the chaos of fleeing his home during the California wildfires of 2018, Gabe, a high school senior, missed the state-qualifying cross-country race for which he’d been training. Missing this meet meant he wouldn’t have the chance to compete at the state meet—the culminating event of his four-year running career. In light of the circumstances, the state athletics board gave Gabe another chance: he’d have to run a qualifying time by himself, on a rival high school’s track, in “street shoes” because his running shoes were in the charred rubble of his home. When he showed up to “race,” Gabe was surprised by his competitors who’d come to supply him with proper shoes and to run alongside him to ensure he kept the pace necessary to be entered in the state meet.
Gabe’s opponents had no obligation to help him. They could have given into their natural desires to look out for themselves (Galatians 5:13); doing so might have improved their own odds of winning. But Paul urges us to display the fruit of the Spirit in our lives—to “serve one another humbly in love” and to demonstrate “kindness” and “goodness” (vv. 13, 22). When we lean on the Spirit to help us not act on our natural instincts, we’re better able to love those around us.
How are you showing the “fruit of the Spirit” in the way you treat others? How can you better love your “neighbor”?
Dear God, my natural desire is to look out for myself. Help me to serve others out of love for You.
Our Daily Bread 16th November 2020 Devotional – Borrowed Shoes was written By: Kirsten Holmberg
Kirsten Holmberg is a speaker, author, and coach based in the Pacific Northwest. She’s the author of Advent with the Word: Approaching Christmas Through the Inspired Language of God and several Bible studies. She speaks regularly at business, church, and community events, encouraging others to step closer to Jesus and better know His love for them through His Word. Find her online at www.kirstenholmberg.com or on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (@kirholmberg).
