Spirit Filled

Yesterday's sermon was on living a spirit filled life and being a spiritually minded Christian! What do you think it means to be spirit filled and how should it guide our everyday walk through this earthly life? We talked about the fruits of the Spirit that would be evident if we are living the spirit filled life ("they will know you by your fruits...") and I must admit that some of the fruits are very hard for me to constantly show in my own life....

LOVE- do I show LOVE when someone cuts me off on the highway and I yell at them how stupid they are?? do I show LOVE when I bite my husband's head off on the way to church and then act like nothing's wrong when I greet others at church?? do I show LOVE when I am offended or hurt by someone and instead of "loving" them as Jesus would, I hold resentment and bitterness towards them in my heart?? NO ONE would know I was a Christian if they saw this as the fruit I constantly was bearing from my tree.

JOY- this has been a tough one for me in the past. I have battled with depression for several years, and Satan always seems to come through and try to steal my joy at just the right time. But REAL JOY, the JOY from the LORD, not from any earthly high, would be evident despite our circumstances that may have us feeling otherwise. Now I'm not saying you're not allowed to have a bad day, a bad attitude, a sad mood, or anything like that...but is your fruit showing that you are a pleasant, happy person or a sad, down in the dumps person where circumstances steal your joy from day to day? We can CHOOSE to have joy- after all, we have been Redeemed by our Creator Himself....what more could you need to have lasting joy??

PEACE- do you have peace when you're worrying about your finances?? Do you have peace when you are sitting at home worrying about your child or spouse...wondering what they're doing and putting all your hope, faith and trust in them instead of the Lord Almighty?? Something to think about. Only HE can give TRUE peace when our world is falling apart in the world's eyes.

PATIENCE- I mess up at this one everyday. When I am so quick to get angry with my 3 year old, I am reminded that I am NOT having the patience that I want the Lord to have with me! God forbid I be so hard on and unforgiving with others when I expect the Lord to be SO patient with me and unconditionally loving and forgiving!

KINDNESS- Do we just smile fakely at others and say hello or are we really KIND? Are we generous or do we hoard up our earthly possessions wanting to share them with no one? Do we think we're better than other people because they look, smell or act different than us? All people are looking for is to know someone cares about them. They want to be LOVED, and it is our job, as His church, to "Be the Church" to these people and show JESUS' KINDNESS to them...even when we don't feel like it or really want to.

GOODNESS- this kind of ties in with the kindness I think. Do we show HIS goodness to those around us? Or are we back biting, mean spirited, and revenge seeking? We should be filled with His Goodness and let it consume our thoughts and hearts! If we were driven by being in His image, we would have a total mind transformation!

FAITHFULNESS- The Lord is SO faithful to us....are we faithful to Him and others? Do we stay committed or can we not be counted on? I have been horrible about keeping promises in the past, so I'm so thankful that the Lord remains faithful to me in His love for me even when I haven't returned the same thing! He promises us SO many things in His word, and He says it won't return void, so we can count on Him for everything we need....can we be counted on???

GENTLENESS- this lines up with patience for me. I need to be gentle in my words, my actions, and let others know that I am not quick to speak but want to be gentle and not harsh. Jesus was point blank a lot of the time, but He has commanded us to love others as He loves us, so that must mean He wants us to be GENTLE as He is SO gentle with us! He does show His wrath and justice, but He is also a just God and rightfully so...we have NO right to carry out His justice....He promises in His word that justice will be His.

SELF CONTROL- Do we have self control when we eat? Do we have self control when we're watching something on TV? Do we have self control when we're surfing the internet? Everyone has different temptations and weaknesses that we MUST ask the Lord to help us have self control over....we CANNOT do it on our OWN!!!!

So, these were all things I thought of when discussing the fruits of the Spirit. If I were to do a survey of my own life, or better yet a complete stranger do one of the fruits that are evident in my life, would there be enough fruit to convict me of being spirit filled??? Spiritually minded??? or self minded??? Do a survey for yourself and reflect on it and pray to God asking for His help in these areas of your life as I had to. I have found that when I am committed to loving Him and following Him more than other things, I am more "spiritually aware" of having these fruits in my life and making them apart of my "spiritual DNA." I want my make up to be in His image, so I will continue to strive daily (although I'll never be perfect) to constantly learn about, change and grow closer to Him....hence having much more of these fruits growing on my tree.