Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Live Light in 25 Words- Day 16. " Sweet or Sour ? "

" But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives; love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. There is no law against these things!" Galatians 5:22-23 Well if this isn't an recipe for a wonderful life, I don't know what is! The Message version expands on these verses, in direct application to our daily life. "But what happens when we live God's way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard- things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely. Legalism is helpless in bringing this about, it only gets in the way." Q. What will living like a Christian look like for you today, this week, this month? Which fruit of Gods Spirit would you like to bear in your life? I'm going to have to be greedy here and say all of them. Who wouldn't want all of these things in their life. To have the capacity to lavishly love on those in my life, to face each day with an positive expectancy, to walk calmly in the face of life's inevitable stumbling blocks. To have the staying power to finish the things I start, to act upon the promptings of my heart and to first see and believe the best of people. To always be a friend with integrity and honesty, to be prepared to do the hard yards and not expect things, just because. And to wisely share my time and myself. Yet the most amazing thing about all these gifts is, that they are just that...gifts ! No amount of striving will produce this fruit in my life. By choosing, loving and following Jesus, allowing Him to flood my life daily with His Spirit, this is what being a Christian will look like. Fruit takes a little while to grow, and some fruits take longer to mature than others but that's ok. Each season as we stay connected to the source our harvest will sweeten and multiply. Lxx

1 comment:

  1. I love the reminder that these are gifts! We don't deserve them but God has given them to us if we seek them. Blessings to you today!

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