May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God. (Philippians 1:11).

A person who genuinely turns to Christ as Savior and Lord is a person who is changing from the inside out. This is the fruit that is produced in those who are truly saved. We are not saved because of this fruit . . . it is the result of our salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit inside of us.

This is important because it is easy to "have an experience" (at a church service, a conference, camp or even at home) and conclude the experience indicates you are truly saved. That is not necessarily true. A true encounter with Christ changes you forever. It is falling into His arms, trusting His ability to save AND lead your life.

People should see a difference in you. A true follower is becoming more and more like Jesus (this takes a lifetime) and less and less like the world around us. No one should be surprised to learn we are followers of Christ.

Here's the question: Are you trusting Christ or are you trusting an experience? Are you following Jesus or the crowd? Have you surrendered to Jesus or only had "an experience?"

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.

(Ephesians 4:2).

Everyone has bad days. There are times we are unaware, and others where we are just "in a mood." We want grace from others. We want them to know that we are not like this all the time. We don't want our worst days to be the days that others focus on and remember.

Paul wants us to remember that other people have bad days too. They struggle, they panic, they sometimes spew. He encourages us to "make allowances for each other's faults." In other words, He summons us to extend mercy and grace to each other.

We are all in the midst of growing. I used to have a sign that said: "Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet." A true brother or sister in Christ is the one who sees that you are a work in progress and celebrates the growth they see rather than spotlighting the places where you still need to grow. They forgive and overlook the bad days because they know you are a work in progress.

Let's be that kind of a friend to each other.

That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day. For our present troubles are small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us a glory that vastly outweighs them and will last forever! So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

(2 Corinthians 4:16–18).

The Olympic champion distance runner pushes through to the finish line even though they are tired, weary, and their body screams with pain. They see the goal and they strive for it with every ounce of strength that they have.

This is the image Paul gives us of the Christian life. We are people who must keep running, striving, and serving until we cross the finish line. We don't stop and lick our wounds . . . we focus on doing what God has called us to do. It doesn't matter if things do not go the way we hoped they would go, it doesn't matter what penalties may be imposed on us for teaching the truth, It doesn't matter if we are not popular. What matters is getting to the finish line pointing to Jesus. We strive to hear "Well Done." In the end, that is all that is going to matter.

For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

(Galatians 5:13–15.)

Freedom in Christ is not an excuse to sin, it is motivation to serve the Lord and love each other. Paul tells us plainly that if you are "biting and devouring" one another, you are NOT loving each other! In other words, if you are criticizing others, competing with each other, (which usually means underscoring perceived faults in others to make ourselves look good), and gossiping, you have missed the point!

Jesus said the law is summed up by loving one another as Christ loved the church. The church had power and influence in the world because people were drawn to the way they loved one another. This is not just the way they loved "their church" it was the way they loved THE church.

Do you want to know how to bridge the widening gap in our country? Let's start by modeling the love of Christ.

So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.” (Galatians 3:11).

This is a simple statement but it is something with which we continue to struggle. There seems to be an innate need to try to find a formula for salvation. We want to know what combination of things will get us into Heaven. So we run to find the right church, the best teachers, great books to read, and conferences to attend. We embrace church rituals, serve on committees, and try to be a good person. We do this much of the time trying to earn God's favor. However, as hard as we work, we still CANNOT earn our salvation.

Salvation is something made possible through trusting Jesus. We must believe that He died to pay for our sin and rose from the dead to kick the door open to a new life empowered by the Holy Spirit. We do not EARN eternal life, we RECEIVE it.

We are no longer driven by the futile work of trying to be "good enough." Instead, we are motivated by joy and gratitude for a gift that is more wonderful than we can possibly comprehend. We do not move forward proud of what we have accomplished . . . we go forward with humility and wonder at a grace that is more profound and liberating each day.

Get off the treadmill to nowhere and rest in the open arms of Jesus!