Have you ever found yourself asking if God is truly working in your life? Have you ever wondered if the Spirit is really influencing your thoughts or your actions?I have. There was a point in my life where I found myself in prayer asking God for wisdom and for spiritual discernment. I asked God to help me grow spiritually. As I studied the Scripture, I tried to "make every effort" to add to my faith the traits outlined in 2 Peter 1: goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love.
One evening, as I was reading Scripture, I found myself in Galatians 5:22 where the "fruits" of the Spirit are recorded. I would be proud to say that I had them memorized; yes, indeed, I have been able to recite them for years. But, that day, I was struck by something profound. As I looked at those "fruits" that my mind had committed to memory - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control - I realized that I was sorely lacking in many of them.
Joy? Not so stellar. Peace? Occasionally. Patience? Nope. Kindness? If absolutely necessary. Goodness? Yes, I think so. Gentleness? Ouch. Faithfulness? Again, I think so. Self-control? Seriously? Why did self-control have to be in this list?
Is the Spirit working in your life? It shouldn't be a difficult question to answer. You can readily tell by the evidence of "fruit." As trees grow and mature, so does the fruit produced by the tree. At that moment I looked at my life and realized that I was not allowing the Spirit to manifest His works in my life. I needed to make significant strides in patience and kindness and gentleness. And definitely in self-control.
So, I made that my priority. It is always a huge victory for me, and a source of thanksgiving, when I recognize that the Spirit produces behavior in these areas that I could never produce on my own. Those are the times that I am completely assured that He is influencing my thoughts and actions.
And when I fail, sometimes miserably so, I thank God for the pruning and pray that the Spirit will call me to be more faithful.
2 comments:
I continually pray and meditate on the same things. Praise God for seeing me and loving me just as I am, knowing that my heart is truly seeking Him and wanting to "know" HIM more fully. What a GREAT God we serve. Who gives us the Spirit to help us.
Thank you so much for the reminder that I need to let the Spirit work to produce "good fruits" in me. I cannot force the "fruits" to grow, they are an outpouring of the Spirit in my life.
Post a Comment