Fruit of Goodness

 

Here we are again, my friends, on our Fruits of the Spirit journey.  This week has our reflection pointed to goodness.  Often, kindness and goodness can be seen as similar.  Yet, the difference is between you and me.  How so?  Kindness is what we show and how we treat others – YOU.  Goodness is how I behave, actioning what is right and with a level of integrity – ME. 

Goodness offers us the opportunity to not only be nice to others but to also do what is right.  I can hear y’all saying, “Of course, I do what is right, Susan!”  I believe, if we truly self-examine, we may find that our actions are not always what is right or good.  To act with a level of integrity, a level of goodness, can be easier said than done.  Our actions, as much what we do as what we do not do, dictate how we live our lives.  What does goodness look like in the eyes of Jesus?

·         Honesty: Living our lives with honesty at the forefront.  Honesty needs to begin with us.  This means looking at ourselves, our gaps, and having a sense of humility that we have areas where we sin, and where we need to be better – for God and ourselves.

·         Integrity: Doing what we say we are going to do.  If we sit in a pew on Sunday morning and profess that we are Christians and do what is right, then our actions as we leave the church doors should reflect that.  Taking a strong look at this may reveal this is easier said than done.

·         Stand Firm: Standing up for what is right.  It takes a lot to be the ‘one person’ to stand up for what is right.  It is much easier to go along with the crowd.  Nobody modeled this better for us than Jesus.  He always stood up for the righteous thing, the Godly thing, those who were not able to stand up for themselves.  This is incredibly difficult to achieve.

The above examples of goodness are not easy.  Challenging ourselves to truly reflect on our actions as they are described above may lead us to realize we have work to do.  We SHOULD have work to do!  We are sinners, my friends.  The only way we will be able to move forward in goodness is by the grace of God.  Jesus walks with us every day to help us attain the goodness for which we are striving.  Living in goodness will feel good.  When we are honest about our gaps and work towards being better; when we live with integrity every day; when we stand up for a situation so it will mirror what Jesus wants – all those examples will provide you with goodness in your soul.  Let us step up, in simple faith, that we can do this – with the grace of the One who can help us – Jesus!

Video that complements this post:  Fruit of Goodness

Holy Spirit, be with me as I work to integrate goodness into my life.  Let my actions reflect the love that I have for Jesus and that He has for me.  May goodness radiate from me and ensure that I am living the life I want to live for Jesus.  Amen!

Fruit of Kindness

 

Turn on the news, open up a newspaper, or scroll through a news service and I believe we can all agree that we consistently see examples where kindness has been replaced with judgement, hostility or even violence.  We can walk through our days experiencing people’s inability (including ourselves) to show kindness to others.  It seems that if you disagree with another individual, if you do not have the same beliefs or values, it provides a person with a clear path to be nasty to that person – either through thoughts, words, or actions.

In walks our Fruit of the Spirit for this week, kindness.  You may be thinking, “I’m a kind person,” and you very may well be a kind person.  The question becomes WHO are you being kind to?  Are you kind to your friends, showing up for them and performing kind acts for them?  Are you kind to your family members, ensuring that they have the best version of you in all their needs?  That is great and it is important for you to share kindness with those closest to you.

I believe the challenge the Holy Spirit asks of us to bring kindness to ALL our interactions, even with those that we may disagree with, have different value systems, or even those we would consider to be our enemies.  Now there is a challenge I face every day – how about you?  Why should we show kindness to those that do not show kindness to us?  We have the best example of that in Jesus.  Think of how kind He was to those around Him that may not have believed He was the Savior.  His kindness, His generosity – it is all there for us to use as examples.

He respected ALL people, not just His family and the disciples.  He believed each person was created by God for God’s journey.  Shouldn’t we share that same level of respect and consideration?  He showed compassion, even to the least of God’s creatures.  There are times when we cannot show compassion or empathy to our neighbor!  Jesus shows us that even the smallest lamb deserves our compassion.  Jesus did not just ‘think’ about kindness, He acted on it!  He healed, He listened, He performed miracles – for ALL people.  Jesus showed us that acting out kindness to ALL people is why the Holy Spirit is within us.

Let us move from performing Random Acts of Kindness to Intentional Acts of Kindness.  Seek out the person you may be struggling to have a relationship with.  Reflect upon the folks that you may have shared sharp words of disagreement or those who may have ‘done you wrong’ and you have decided to disassociate yourself with.  How can you life out Jesus’ love through kindness with those people?  Your mind may be telling you, ‘no way.’  Let your heart and soul share with you a ‘way.’  Have simple faith that the intentional act of kindness is the Holy Spirit working within you to bring Jesus’ kindness to all.  We can do this.  I have faith in us!

Video that complements this post:  Fruit of Kindness

Holy Spirit, guide me to perform Intentional Acts of Kindness, especially to those that I may not consider a friend or a family member.  Help me to see the value they bring to this world, as God sees their value.  May I be respectful and compassionate to all people I meet.  Amen.

Fruit of Patience

 

Patience!  A word each time I see it slaps me in the face.  I would welcome the feedback of “You are so patient.”  Yet, I cannot say that has been on anyone’s lips – both personally and professionally.  I have gaps, and patience is one of them.  I have attempted to bring a stronger sense of patience into my life, as a mother, as a wife, and as a working professional.  Looking back upon each of those roles, there have been moments where I failed, miserably.

This reared its ugly head in a couple of situations – typically when things are moving as fast as I am moving.  At home, this can show up when I am entertaining.  Everything has a place and time.  If it is not as I ‘planned,’ my lack of patience shines through – like a spotlight.   Those around me?  They prefer to hide under the nearest chair.  At work, it came in lack of my ‘planned goal’ not being achieved.  If things were not getting done, that meant we needed to do more and do it quicker.  By recognizing this negative response in myself, I provided my staff to share the words ‘Jersey Mode.’  When those words were shared with me, I knew I was working too quickly and needed to step back in patience.

Having patience means having to rely on God.  When the Holy Spirit touches us and provides us opportunities to show patience, we need to take these opportunities as gifts of learning and growth.  Patience means we are going to remain calm during adversity.  It means we are empathetic; it means we are not impulsive in our reactions.  The situations above did not exude a sense of calm; I was reacting purely impulsively.  Patience is a fruit God gives to us to deal with earthly circumstances.  It helps us and it helps those around us.

Where can we practice patience?  By turning to God.  My friends, the realization that He is in control, working for our benefit even though we may not recognize it, can bring us patience.  Patience means it will not happen in our time, but in God’s time!  Patience means we will continue to put our simple faith in the fact that God is working on our behalf, even when we cannot see anything happening.  Patience means we respond with a trust in God, not a trust in ourselves.

When we need patience, go to God first.  Ask for His hand as you walk a difficult journey or a journey of waiting.  Ask the Holy Spirit to touch your heart and soul so that you can respond to others in God’s light.  Ask for a calm voice and a steady process of hope.  It is there for all of us; all we need to do is ask for God’s help for patience!

Video that complements this post:  Fruit of Patience

Holy Spirit, help me to recognize when my patience is wearing thin.  Provide me the nudge to seek God and ask for endurance, trust, and hope.  In your name I pray.  Amen!