22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the self with its passions and its desires.
25 If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow the Spirit.
Reflection
When I was listening to Joe’s sermon on Sunday, I was thinking “I love the crazy tube guy as well!” and of course I have seen 6 or 7 in the past couple of days. They just make me smile! Our Dad lost his right eye in a work accident when I was a child. There are lots of stories about that, but it was always interesting to me that he would complain about us throwing things to him or bringing things to his right side because he said he couldn’t see them, but driving in the car he could see everything in a field beside him. I learned this well when I rode back and forth with him for an hour each way one summer when I did an internship in the same city where he worked. If I wasn’t asleep, he would point things out as we drove by. Although since I sat on his right, he didn’t necessarily know I was asleep and still pointed things out. Now that I drive a great deal for my job, I am pretty good at doing that as well, and have seen a bear, an eagle, and a bobcat along with countless other birds and animals. I have also seen an elderly man in a garden who looked like he needed help (and he did), and other people in need. On the drive to our mom’s there is the biggest rhododendron that is now in full bloom and just gorgeous! I also try to remember to look up as often as I can because you never know when you will see a funky cloud, a bird, or beautiful colors in the sky.
Now, you may be asking what any of this has to do with the scripture. Well, here it is: how often do I look at people when we meet them, and don’t see them? Do I look for the fruit of the Spirit in others – or in myself for that matter? The beginning of Chapter 5 speaks again to the law – this time discussing circumcision. This chapter talks about the 2 ways to live – by the law or by the Spirit. If we are guided by the law, we tend to look out for ourselves and make corrections to the mistakes we have made within the law. If we are guided by the Spirit, we will let the Spirit lead us to do the correct thing, sometimes when it doesn’t necessarily seem like the “right” thing. The Spirit will guide us to make the good decision and to see the fruit in others and in ourselves and to work on gaining more love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
by Janet Waryck
For Pondering and Prayer
In these days when we are on guard when we meet new people because we don’t know if our priorities align in terms of politics etc., are we quick to be on the defensive and not let these qualities that the Spirit gives us shine? Are we judging people and waiting to hear something bad or are we looking for these qualities in others? Let’s not have our blinders on (or go to the side of our figurative glass eye) so that we can’t see the good in others. Let’s remember to say a prayer to the Spirit to make us see these things in others and in ourselves so that we can continue to do God’s work in our community, in our small groups, in our families, and in our world.
Prayer:
The song “Change My Heart, O God” by Eddie Espinoza came into my head this morning. I think that is a perfect song/ prayer for us as we work to see others in light of the Spirit. For those of you who don’t know it, the lyrics are:
Change my heart, oh God, make it ever true Change my heart, oh God, may I be like you You are the potter, I am the clay, mold me and make me, this is what I pray. Change my heart, oh God, make it ever true Change my heart, oh God, may I be like you.
Amen.