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 5:22-23
Just the other night, I heard one of our elders (Antman) pray that as we move forward from this past year, away from the anxiousness, fear, etc. He asked the LORD to help us practice the various spiritual gifts listed in today’s scripture. This cannot be an accident!
So what can we do to allow these spiritual gifts to develop in us ? I thought maybe we can add something to our Lenten devotions that could help. For the next two weeks, try one of the following:
- Assign the various gifts to certain hours of the day, and set an alarm on that hour. For instance, make 6pm the moment to think about self-control…just before dinner.
- If you have a family, be intentional by sitting down with the family to have a meal and talk about joyful moments form the day. If you are alone, facetime a friend or family member during dinner and do the same.
- Look at your daily calendar. If you have a meeting with someone who is difficult, set you phone to remind you to be patient and loving five minutes before the meeting. Then pray for that person.
- Write the gifts of the spirit on post-it notes and stick them in strategic places. Put ‘joy” on the dinner table to remind you to be joyful with your family, or love on the bathroom mirror so you see it first thing in the morning. Put self-control on the ice-cream in the freezer!
Do you get the drift? Try it for a week and tweak it if need be. Maybe even keep a journal of how these gifts develop.
I guess what I am saying is to be thoughtful, intentional, and purposeful about developing these wonderful gifts of the Spirit. And maybe they will turn into holy habits!
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