7/26/10

Monday Manna

fruits_of_the_spirit
Most of us have rules or guidelines we choose to live by that direct our behavior throughout life.  Some of these guidelines are set by society and others are set by culture or by the way we were raised and yet others are determined by our spiritual/religious beliefs.  These guidelines determine how we respond to different situations and how we live our lives and they also shape our attitude toward different things.

Sometimes our different beliefs clash.  For example, I was raised that cohabitation or ‘shacking up’ was a perfectly acceptable way of life.  Not a lot of emphasis was placed on the sanctity of marriage.  But growing up and reading the Bible and attending church taught me that cohabitation is not one of those things that’s pleasing in the sight of God. 

Anyway, so my point is how do you choose to live your life?  What do others see in you?  Are your actions shaped by your cultural,societal, political, or spiritual beliefs?

Well, our goal should be to make sure that we bear the Fruit of The Spirit.  The fruits of the spirit are character traits brought out in people when the Spirit of God is active in our lives.  Obviously you have to be a spiritual person in order for God to even think about sending His Holy Spirit to dwell in your life (but that’s a whole other post).

The Fruits of the Spirit are:

Galations 5:22-23

love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control

How many of these qualities do you have?

Here’s the entire scripture and more to give you a better understanding.

22God's Spirit makes us loving, happy, peaceful, patient, kind, good, faithful, 23gentle, and self-controlled. There is no law against behaving in any of these ways. 24And because we belong to Christ Jesus, we have killed our selfish feelings and desires. 25God's Spirit has given us life, and so we should follow the Spirit. 26But don't be conceited or make others jealous by claiming to be better than they are.

Isn’t that something?  Once we devote our life to Christ then we are to kill our selfish feelings and desires (with the help of the Holy Spirit…it’s too hard to do on our own).

fruit-of-the-spirit-sample

If you have devoted your life to Christ but still feel as though you are waaayyy off the mark and your tree is bearing maybe one or two of the fruits if any at all… don’t fret.  Our lives are a work in progress.  Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Hang in there and keep praying and reading your Bible and you will start to see a change (and others will too).  Believe me, I know.  Before I started my Christian walk, I was a mess.  But I have noticed my old habits dying away.  I am more patient and self controlled and I have a peace that I’ve never had before.  I still have a way to go but at least I’m headed in the right direction and it feels sooo good!

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