As Christians we are to have qualities called "Fruits of the Spirit". These qualities are how we will be able to know if a person is converted by Jesus into a new person. These qualities are produced in us by the Holy Spirit. My study Bible tells me that these attributes are found in Galatians 5:22-23 and these qualities are commanded to us by God. So....when something is commanded, it's not based on our feelings, but His good and perfect Word and plan for our life. By living and portraying these "fruits" in our life, we bring our God glory!
They are:
LOVE
JOY
PEACE
PATIENCE
KINDNESS
GOODNESS
FAITHFULNESS
GENTLENESS
SELF CONTROL
The first one is Love.....we all know about love. We love our family, our spouse, our pets, our kids, our friends, our God.....but the love talked about here has nothing to do with a feeling toward anyone or anything. It is a choice to love. A choice to love someone in spite of how they may treat us. This love is out of respect, devotion, and service to another individual. This type of love leads to serving in a willing way to someone else.
Someone very wise always said..."it's real easy to love the lovely". This statement is really true. How often do we love people who love us in return or are just nice and loving? But when someone wrongs us or talks bad about/to us, then that's a different story. We don't want to love that person. This is where this "fruit" of LOVE comes in. This is where the Holy Spirit will guide us and teach us to love everyone.....lovely or not. My husband and I taught youth for years. We always told the kids that when we can show love to those who hurt us, that is where Jesus' light will shine. Our witness for Him will prevail and others will see Him through our life and actions.
Think about a time in life when someone wasn't lovely to you.....I can think of plenty of times. I've been wronged.....accused of things I didn't do......lied to......talked nasty to......been beaten down emotionally......gossiped about......
These things aren't fair.....I know that. But when we can love and forgive as Jesus forgave and loves us....then we are growing. When we can serve the person rather than hold hard feelings toward them, that's when others will see Jesus in our life!
Good post on love!!
ReplyDeleteI am working on faithfulness.... or my faith in God...
My faith needed some work. I have been praying God will get me through my last days of work. Today I was not in a good mode. This was the last of 8 days off before I had to come back to work. I have a bad habit of reading my work emails from home and some of them could have a big impact on my time off before I retire. Plus there are the people I have to deal while working as well. For the last two days I was dreading coming back and prayed that God will get me through my last few months with no issues, and time off is a big issue!! I caught myself being mean to my wife and generally not a good person to everyone. However, I prayed and then I told myself, it is now in God's hands he will take care of it. I also tried to let my faith in God take hold and for me to trust him. Sometimes I failed as my wife can tell you. Now for the really incredible part, at least for me... When I came in to work, I checked my long range schedule and found that there were some changes. However; they were all good changes... I even get two extra days off before my official vacation... I do not have as many midnight shifts as I did before I went on those 8 days off and I get to work in a position I like for 7 days of my remaining time. It makes me ashamed that I do not have more faith, but this good that God has done me makes me praise him and I certainly did praise our wonderful, loving God. I am so grateful to him for helping me and showing me that I need to have and keep faith in him as the one true God that deserves all the glory we can give him....
Bruce.....I feel our God is using your circumstances to grow and stretch you into what He needs you to be. This is how He works in our lives. It doesn't feel good at the time, but once you come out on the other side what you have gained through the challenge will be far more beneficial for you and make you a better person for the kingdom.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your honesty. And just try to hang on and use your job and the time you have left there to witness for Jesus. Use the time to look at is a mission field and wonder how many you can share God's love with. Most don't deserve it, but you know what I mean. Our God shows us grace and we should do that in return.This is not an easy task....especially when we don't want to be where the Lord has us at that moment. I appreciate you saying you pray and ask God for help in your life. You are on the right track. When we can recognize we need help and can't live this life on our own, we bring glory to our God. You are amazing in that you set a good example of dependence and faithfulness to our God.
It's like yesterday at my work.....this whole week has been unreal. I come home and am exhausted. But my one coworker came and apologized to me thinking she was "snippy" to me about a situation. I told her I never took her that way and not to worry about it. Choosing to let something go is proof God is working in our life. I try to look at people differently than I used to. There are reasons they act the way they do and most of us don't share a lot when it comes to our life to know how they live day to day. Remember this.....God is faithful even when we aren't. Hang on to that! Keep the faith my friend! You are such a blessing to many!!!!
Thanks for the encouraging words!!!
ReplyDeleteI am getting a little better with people. I had several calls over the last few days, that I could have answered pretty quickly and still have done my job. However; I took the time to go a little further with the calls in an attempt to help these or at least ease the situation they were in. I looked up some additional numbers for one man. At the end of the call he thank me and I thought to myself that I did what God would have wanted me to do.