Thursday, December 01, 2005
Smelly Fruit?
How did it get to be Thursday? I have had a thought brewing in my head since Sunday, but simply have not taken time to get it written down {if I don’t do it soon it will have slipped out of my mind with the millions of other trivial details it seems to loose everyday, like where I put stuff!} Maybe when I attempt to get too serious I think you all will laugh at my reasoning and my conclusions. But mostly, I think I just sometimes lack the discipline to sit down and work through some thoughts that require more than just a “quick type”.
Last night in the ladies class I was leading, we were discussing the way the Apostle Paul had encouraged the Philippians to put into practice what they had learned from him; what they saw, heard and realized. (4:9) I asked the question of the class “could you tell someone all they had to do to be a Christian was to act like you act and do the things that you do”? Uh, sometimes….maybe? The truth is for most of us we walk a “zigzagged” line.
This past Sunday I was reading in Galatians 5 and a verse jumped out at me that I had not noticed before.
17- The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.(NLT)
It has been there all along, but sometimes I miss the fact that the conflict will never go away. While we are developing the fruits of the Spirit that are detailed in verse 22 &23 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), we are still going to be plagued by the tendencies of our selfish nature to indulge in the activities in verses 20 & 21 (sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like).
Perhaps the example that Paul left for the Philippians is not that different from what we do today. If he lived among them he would have displayed this “other side” from time to time. The true art of Christian living is not mastering a list of fruits, but rather determining the Spirit we are going to follow. When our sinful self interest rears its ugly head in our lives, we must be able to squash it and move back towards our Spirit filled lives. Paul himself assures us that the conflict will always be there.
I don’t know why this brings me comfort. Maybe because in the past I have felt that I would eventually be able to mature into the Christian who had mastered this fruit of the Spirit. As I have gotten older and matured greatly in my faith I still find myself falling so short. I don’t even make it to self-control before realizing I am missing the mark. Perhaps that “legalistic” upbringing of mine makes me want to use this as a check list instead of the peaceful promise that Paul was declaring to the Galatians. I think that knowing our lives of faith will still be filled with conflict from our carnal self helps me to realize that zigzagging is still a method of moving forward. I don’t know about you, but for me that is a great relief.
Last night in the ladies class I was leading, we were discussing the way the Apostle Paul had encouraged the Philippians to put into practice what they had learned from him; what they saw, heard and realized. (4:9) I asked the question of the class “could you tell someone all they had to do to be a Christian was to act like you act and do the things that you do”? Uh, sometimes….maybe? The truth is for most of us we walk a “zigzagged” line.
This past Sunday I was reading in Galatians 5 and a verse jumped out at me that I had not noticed before.
17- The old sinful nature loves to do evil, which is just opposite from what the Holy Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are opposite from what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, and your choices are never free from this conflict.(NLT)
It has been there all along, but sometimes I miss the fact that the conflict will never go away. While we are developing the fruits of the Spirit that are detailed in verse 22 &23 (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control), we are still going to be plagued by the tendencies of our selfish nature to indulge in the activities in verses 20 & 21 (sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like).
Perhaps the example that Paul left for the Philippians is not that different from what we do today. If he lived among them he would have displayed this “other side” from time to time. The true art of Christian living is not mastering a list of fruits, but rather determining the Spirit we are going to follow. When our sinful self interest rears its ugly head in our lives, we must be able to squash it and move back towards our Spirit filled lives. Paul himself assures us that the conflict will always be there.
I don’t know why this brings me comfort. Maybe because in the past I have felt that I would eventually be able to mature into the Christian who had mastered this fruit of the Spirit. As I have gotten older and matured greatly in my faith I still find myself falling so short. I don’t even make it to self-control before realizing I am missing the mark. Perhaps that “legalistic” upbringing of mine makes me want to use this as a check list instead of the peaceful promise that Paul was declaring to the Galatians. I think that knowing our lives of faith will still be filled with conflict from our carnal self helps me to realize that zigzagging is still a method of moving forward. I don’t know about you, but for me that is a great relief.
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Yes, it is a huge relief for me! In fact, I think I become more aware of how much I zig and zag the older I get. I hate it--how I would love to just walk a straight line right to my Father. But for now, I try to keep my eyes on Jesus and even with a zig, a zag, a lunge forward or backwards or sideways--I should be getting just a bit closer to Him zig by zag.
"The true art of Christian living is not mastering a list of fruits, but rather determining the Spirit we are going to follow."
You summed it up well.
The verse from Galatians gives me comfort too.
You summed it up well.
The verse from Galatians gives me comfort too.
I suggest that it isn't about performance, it is about relationship. It isn't how good you are or how good you do. It is about the Good One on the cross that died for our sins.
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