Fruit of the Spirit – Goodness!
What good things might fill your mind this week? While contemplating that question, I add another – Why?
Category Archives: New Testament
Living Patiently as a Christian
How do you live patiently as a Christian…
- when it comes to being mistreated for your faith?
- when it comes to being provoked in small or great ways?
- when it comes to quite simply getting annoyed at people or life?
Question: A ‘fruit of the Spirit’ is ‘peace’ yet sometimes even Christians experience personal conflict – where is peace when engaged in conflict??
The second characteristic of the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22) is ‘peace’ and for Christians it may be helpful to consider the idea of ‘letting go and letting God!’ Often the reason why we are not ‘at peace’ in situations is because we are holding the reigns too tightly as if that was the way to ensure we get our own way. Whether you get your own way or not is secondary to the attitude which we bring to any conflict situation. What we need to ensure we do in all circumstances is honour God and so ‘letting go and letting God’ is a good rule of thumb.
Three questions you may find helpful to ask yourself:
- In conflict – have you thought about why the conflict has arisen?
- How do you approach conflict – avoid it, embrace it or treat it as a godly challenge?
- Above all, in whatever you do, do you honour God – in the home, in church, in the world?
Question: Is the ‘fruit of the Spirit’ (Galatians 5) all personal characteristics?
A good question.
Two quick comments. First, do you notice that (in Gal 5:22-26) it is not the ‘fruits of..’ (plural) but the ‘fruit of..’ (singular)?
Death of the Wicked
You may not know this. I was born in the USA. I still hold my US passport and defend my heritage although I have lived in Australia since I was 10.
This week I have felt very conflicted and it would not be hard to work out why. The news of the killing of Osama Bin Laden has been greeted with relief, praise and joy. He has been the figurehead of evil in the minds of many for the past decade. For those who have been connected in any way to the terrorist attacks in Nairobi (1998), Yemen (2000), New York (2001), Washington (2001), United Flight 93 (2001), Bali (2002 to 2005), Iraq (2003), Madrid (2004), London (2005) and elsewhere, his death in many ways will allow another stage of healing in the cycle of grief.
Anzac Day & Easter
There is a strange tension in the way that our world relates to both Easter and Anzac Day
Anzac Day quite rightly asks us to pause and remember the sacrifice of our forefathers who went to battle and in many cases never returned. They fought for the freedoms that we now enjoy and willingly laid down their lives to keep the enemy at bay. It is a good thing that our society protects and honours our Anzacs.
Easter asks us to pause and remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus who went into battle to deal with our rebellion and returned to confirm that he had achieved what he promised. He died for the forgiveness of our sin, but not just our sin, that of all people – family, friend, neighbour, and even foe.
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