Welcome back. Last week we started thinking through some stuff that God calls Spirit Fruit. In other words, its the stuff that Christians should live out in their lives. Kind of the everyday product of following Jesus. Today, we double down with two of these ideas.
NUMBER 5: KINDNESS & NUMBER 6: GOODNESS
And don’t forget…
If we are “in” Jesus then He is able to work certain things “out” through our lives.
Good things. Not bad things.
We have to remember this because being good and being kind isn’t always natural and it definitely isn’t always easy. We need some help to do this the right way. AND we need some forgiveness because there will be times we screw it up.
Simply put, Jesus wants us to live in a way that everyone we come into contact with will think of us as good and kind. That means we do the simple stuff like waiting the extra minute to hold the door for the person behind us, helping “granny” load the groceries into her car, saying thank you when someone does something for you, tipping the person who served your food, and kicking kitty-cats when they come purring up to you. OK. All of them except that last one; because while that might be enjoyable, it wouldn’t be kind or good.
Why is this important? First, having others see you as kind and good is important but its not the priority or the heart behind it. The biggest reason to live this way is so that you will have credibility to point people who don’t know and love Jesus to Jesus! If you claim to care about whether people know Jesus or not but you are always living and acting like a butt…well you don’t seem to really care at all.
P.S. This also includes the practice of gentleness, another one of the Spirit fruits listed in Galatians! No body wants to be friends with a bruiser. You know, those people who live life with a chip on their shoulder; always in a bad mood and ready to fight. Don’t be that person.
H/W CHALLENGE
Are my general, everyday decisions expressing the following 2 things?
- That I love Jesus and have experienced His love towards me?
- That I care about others and want them to know Jesus loves them too?
PRAYER
Father, you have loved me with a never ending, unbiased, underserved love. I didn’t deserve it but you loved me any way. You were good to me when I was and when I am bad. You are kind to me even when I am rude and mean. Thank you for loving me. Help me to be good and kind and loving to those people you have put in my life. In Jesus name, Amen.
