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.
Reflection
The Spirit bears a lot of fruit! I’m lucky if I bear just a little of one of these attributes at any given time. At the Rachel Meet-and-Greets we’ve been having, one of the questions we’ve been asking is “what has been a blessing for you during this time of quarantine?” It’s usually followed by a long pause, but then just about everyone finds something to talk about. I’m often surprised by the many ways people have experienced God during this pandemic. Perhaps it’s more self-control in intentional eating so as to keep food from going to waste. Perhaps it’s the joy of getting to have family dinners again. Perhaps it’s just a new level of patience for some sense of normalcy to return.
The Spirit is alive and active! When we take the time to pause and think about the ways that we’ve experienced these fruits of the Spirit in our day, we become more attuned to it. It’s like if you buy a blue Chevy, then all the sudden all you see are blue Chevys. When you think about, say, love, you are more likely to see it present all around you. And when we see it, acknowledge it, give thanks for it, we’re more likely to share and be it. We won’t always get it right. In fact, we’ll probably get it wrong more often than we get it right. But, when it becomes an intentional passion and desire in us, it’s amazing how the Spirit can work through us.
By Rachel Callender
For Pondering & Prayer
Look at the list provided in this text: can you name one way you’ve experienced one of these things in your life recently? Which one is the hardest to find an example for?
Prayer: Creator Lord, you’ve created us to be able to experience wonderful things such as love, kindness, and gentleness. Please be at the center of our hearts when we lack such things. Help us to see your goodness all around us. May your Spirit be an inescapable force in our lives. In the name of Jesus Christ we pray, amen.
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