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Got Fruit?

I have a confession to make. I - am -a - people watcher. There I said it. I love to people watch! The FisherMan and I can be out somewhere with our oldest son and he can tell immediately when we go into our secret agent mode LOL. He used to get so exasperated with us and now I catch him doing the same thing!

Have you ever wondered what people think if they practice people watching on you? Anyone that knows anything about following Christ knows that a Christian should bear fruit. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. " Galatians 5: 22-23 But I wonder how many of us are truly living this out. How many of us are just content to have a foot in heaven? Or maybe that we are so much better than that other person? At least I don't ___________________. We get so caught up in comparisons, judgements and downright complacency that we forget (or don't even begin) to live out our beliefs in a truly God-glorifying, contagious way. Honestly if someone was watching you for an indication of why they should think about Christianity would they even want to get to know this Jesus? Much less turn over their life, their will, their soul to Him? What is there about your daily walk that says God is Awesome!! Do you wear your testimony on your sleeve? Is it apparent? How about unbelievers? What are they seeing or picking up from you? Is there a difference between your life and theirs? If so, do they get a condescending, pious attitude from you or is it one of joy, contentment and peace? Something that could truly draw them in and want what you have.

I realize this post has a lot of questions so I hope I am not putting anyone off. But I think it is important to examine ourselves and see exactly where we stand. It can sometimes be easy to get caught up in life and not realize just what we have become. Responsibilities demand. Worries consume. Needs must be met. Daily life marches on. Time gets away from us and we change a little more with it. The fruits become less and less of a reality. But God is so much more powerful than anything this life has! The fruits come from Him through us.

Love. Got it? Giving it? Joy. What exactly is true joy? Peace. Wow, a lot of us are longing for that one. Longsuffering. Hmmm, what's the difference in being longsuffering and carrying yourself as a martyr? Kindness. To whom? Goodness. Just how good? Faithfulness. Once again, to whom? To what? Gentleness. Ok, if I'm kind and good where does gentleness come in? Self-control. Over???

Self examination isn't easy. It brings up some hard questions. But it is so worth it to open ourselves up and allow god to mold us to be more like Him!

Comments

  1. TiffanyFebruary 26, 2009 at 4:44 PM

    Great word! Thanks for sharing! Joel and I were just having this discussion .... :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. LisaFebruary 26, 2009 at 10:01 PM

    Tiffany,
    Thanks for the encouragement! As I post more feel free to add to it! :)

    ReplyDelete

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