Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. John 14:12
“Christ in a believer’s heart will act the same as He acted in Galilee and Judea. His disposition is the same now as then. He was holy, righteous, compassionate, meek, and humble then, and He has not changed. He is the same wherever He is found, whether it be at the right hand of God or in the nature of a true disciple. He was friendly, loving, prayerful, kindly, worshipful, self-sacrificing while walking among men; is it not reasonable to expect Him to be the same when walking in men?
Why then do true Christians sometimes act in an unChristlike manner? Some would assume that when a professed Christian fails to show forth the moral beauty of Christ in his [or her] life it is a proof that he [or she] has been deceived and is actually not a real Christian at all. But the explanation is not so simple as that.
The truth is that while Christ dwells in the believer’s new nature, He has strong competition from the believer’s old nature. The warfare between the old and the new goes on continually in most believers. This is accepted as inevitable, but the New Testament does not so teach. A prayerful study of Romans 6 to 8 points the way to victory. If Christ is allowed complete sway He will live in us as He lived in Galilee.”
A.W. Tozer in That Incredible Christian: How Heaven’s Children Live On Earth, compiled by Anita M. Bailey, 11.
Christ is risen and with the Father. As He walked the earth and touched the lives of many with compassion and generosity, so can we. As today’s Scripture notes, He Himself declared we would do not just the same things but greater things.
But we have strong competition. The flesh wages war within us. Our inner man or inner woman must give complete sway to the Spirit rather than succumb to the desires of the flesh. How are you tempted to live for yourself rather than for God?
Complete sway starts with commitment. It is lived out victoriously not so much in big areas, but in the small decisions of life. We realize over time, the small ones are really the big ones. What keeps you from a life of compassion and generosity?