Something to Think About – 2021.02.26

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

1 John 4:9

Coming from the Apostle John, you can hear the echoes of John 3:16, so I am not sure I could expound upon the first two-thirds of this verse any better. However, I will focus on the last phrase, “…live through him.”

Yesterday, one of the staff asked me if I ever come across people who say they have the Holy Spirit, and yet the little voice in your head questions whether they are even a person of faith. I told him that it is usually because the fruit of the Spirit is not apparent or discernable in their life.

Ponder these words from the Apostle Paul: “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:19-23

I am not saying that people have to be perfect; far from it. I always make it clear that humanity, including the author of this bLOG, is a white-hot mess. But when I meet someone, and the fruit of the Spirit seems to flow out of them naturally, I don’t take pause when they tell you they are in full of the Holy Spirit. But if I do not see or sense a modicum of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, or self-control, and then they tell you they are full of the Holy Spirit, the little voice in my head says:

So ask God to manifest his love in you, which is Christ. And remember that the Holy Spirit is a gift from the Lord to help us live a life so others can see him in us.