Wednesday 8 July, 2020

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

One of my favourite passages – the description of the fruit of the Spirit. This is a reminder that God wants us to be amazing people who are full of love and kindness. It’s great to get a new way to think about these ideas God wants us to use to guide our lives. So take a look at the way The Message version lays out these verses and see if that gives you a richer picture of what God means here.

Affection for others = love; exuberance about life = joy; serenity = peace; willingness to stick to things = patience; sense of compassion = kindness; conviction of basic holiness of people = goodness; being loyal in our relationships = faithfulness; not needing to force our way = gentleness and about to marshal and direct our energies wisely = self-control.

These are the fruit of the Holy Spirit. There was probably one of these that really appealed to you today – one that you would like to be better at/have more of/grow in. Grab hold of that one today and chat to the Holy Spirit about how to do that.

God promises that our lives can be filled with these gifts – we can always be more kind, more gentle, more patient, more joyful, more loving, more faithful, more controlling of ourselves and our reactions, more peaceful. God always wants us to have more of these gifts so we can be blessed and we can bless others. We just have to ask and to follow His guidance to get there.

Dear Lord thank you so much for the gifts you promise to give us. Help us to remember to ask for your help to grow in these gifts. Also help us to keep our eyes on who you want us to be not to compare ourselves to others so that we get distracted. Thank you that you have made each of us an original – you need the part each of us can play in your plans. Amen

Written by Therese Manning