Tomorrow I am--together with a friend--going to begin an experiment. No chemicals or mathematical equations involved here, but rather the inner workings of mind, action, and spirit. You see, tomorrow I'm going to begin to really think about the "Fruits of the Spirit" found in Galatians 5:22-23. There, Paul lists what he considers to be nine essential characteristics of the Christian alive in the Spirit:
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law."
I've been a faithful churchgoer and believer for some time now, and I can tell you that we Christians hear about this fruit a lot. We learn it when we're in Sunday School. We read it every time we pass through that part of the Bible. It's a part of the Christian vocabulary...and a good part.
But as with so much else, I feel like I haven't necessarily given enough attention to these spiritual traits. Haven't really focused on what they mean. Haven't really seen them as more than a nice list. Haven't taken the time to think about how they would really be lived out.
So that's what I'm doing now. Starting tomorrow, for each of the next nine days I am going to attempt to live out the fruit listed in Galatians 5 one by one. I do this not to try to prove I'm better than anyone else nor to attempt to make myself into something that only God's Spirit can make me, but rather so that I can understand more about what God calls the Christian to be and hopefully allow Him to work something new in me.
That's the plan. Join along if you like. Tomorrow is: Love.
6 comments:
I have the perfect opportunity for you to practice goodness on September 11! You can help me move into my third floor dorm room in Brown Hall!
Hmm. Not to be antagonistic (which would surely not be the way to reintroduce myself to you after so many years), but this topic has been on the forefront of my little Ithaca community of believers' thoughts and minds.
Take two people - Norm and Phil, lets say - and have them both try an experiment akin to yours.
Norm is going to pick a Fruit (haha); say, patience. He will try to become better at it, to live mindfully of it, to put it into practice daily, for six months.
Phil is going to take a different route and draw near to God, making daily decisions to spend time with God in prayer and deed and Word. For six months.
At the end of the six months, who might be more patient? Why? Which is the better approach? Do different methods work for different people?
Let me know how it goes for you. I get the impression that you are somewhere in-between Phil and Norm (as we real people seldom fit neatly into fake people scenarios).
We've also been grappling (sp?) with the beatitudes. Are we supposed to be meek and hungry and mournful and poor? Are they prescriptive or descriptive? Thoughts? :)
Cheers!
hmph. my name is not click-able. Here's the closest thing I have to a blog right now - shameful, I know:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=58367705
I agree with rebecca. Fruit is the byproduct of other conditions and processes. Paul didn't say "go out and have love, joy, peace, patience..." He said to walk in the Spirit, devoted to God (and each other), and fruit will be the result.
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control... among these, there is only one that can be used as a verb. The rest are nouns (or are used adjectivally). This suggests that fruits are not something you "do" (except perhaps love?), but things that become characteristic of a believer—something you "are." There's no shortcut.
I'm down with this. The fruits of the Spirit are not something we do...but rather something the Spirit does in us. Something we are because of what God has done.
I guess this exercise is more to show me what I need to let God do and focus on these things rather than force myself to be more loving, etc. over the long haul.
Yet even so, maybe through this I'll begin to grow closer in relationship with God who will begin to work this in me.
Let's see what happens...and don't worry...I'm not trying to take the Spirit's place. I'm not that kind of Pentecostal!
this strikes me as a very german thing to do. But, does this mean I'm out of a job?
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