Shingoes, your face looks like you’ve just eaten a . . .
As followers of Jesus, we should be bearing His fruit. In other words, our lives should reflect who and what He is.
Galatians 5 lists the fruit of the Spirit - fruit that automatically appears as we continue to ground ourselves and live in the Holy Spirit and His leading.
The first one has been mentioned previously - LOVE.
I have been involved in church life for over 40 years and the topics of love, patience, forgiveness, giving and the like have been regularly spoken about . . . but when was the last time you heard anything about joy?!
Crazily enough, JOY is the second fruit of the Spirit but it often gets read over quickly, almost skipped!
As followers of Jesus, we should be FOLL OV JOI! Or as some prefer to spell it, we should be FULL OF JOY!
Why is it then that so many Christians look like they’ve been smacked in the face?! Or like they’ve just been forced to eat a lemon! Some Christians I’ve met are so sour-looking they make an ugly fruit look pretty! Not me bro. Not me!
You see, I’m full of the Holy Spirit and have been ever since I asked Him into my life. When He’s in me, I can’t help but overflow with joy. I don’t mind having a good laugh! I love a good crack up! I don’t mind showing my teeth when I walk and talk (it’s known as smiling - try it cuz!). In fact I have found that it is contagious. The other day I went into Mitre 10 and got to talking with the lady on the counter. They’re pretty friendly there but I found that when I smiled and talked, her face increasingly lit up and before long we were having a good laugh together.
Share the love whanau! Show some teeth and get your joy rocking! In doing so, you are bearing the fruit of the Spirit.
We have much to be joyful about and it stems from…
Having the Spirit of God living in you - ask Him to come and do that!
Choosing JOY
Being grateful
Those three points are easy to do and life changing . . . if you will take action.
Whanau, my encouragement to you today:
CHOOSE JOY
Show dem teeth off
And watch your world, home and people around you change . . . for good.