My Grandsons 1st memory verse

 

Grandson's memory verse.

                                                              Galatians 5:22-23

"But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such; there is no law."

 

This is the 1^st memory verse assigned to my 6-year-old in Sunday school. He will be quizzed on it sometime in August.  I have been in a writing freeze as of late, as life has, in part, has gotten in the way. This is the same mindset that keeps me from going back to the gym to look like the 220lb man that I am on the scale. Thanks to my pastor, I am dipping my foot into the writing pool again. 

The Fruit of the Spirit as defined by me: "It is the outward visible or apparent manifestation of the presence of the holy spirit in one's life at any particular moment." We will explore each one of these in turn.

Love. There are seven types of love described in the Greek language,  

1.      Eros: romantic, passionate physical love.

2.      Philia: authentic friendship, the city of brotherly love, is Philadelphia. I know what some of you are thinking, but this is not discussed today.

3.      Lundus: infatuation toying flirtatious love.

4.      Storage: unconditional familial love

5.      Philautia: self-love

6.      Pragma committed compassionate love.  Ever seen two elderly couples on a park bench obviously in love that have been together since Roosevelt was president.

7.      Agape: universal empathy, unconditional love.

1.      Universal love, Not physical love, not brotherly love but love for love's sake.

2.      Joy: Webster defines it as "a feeling or state of well-being and contentment." Satisfaction with the way things are, knowing with certainty that things will work out, and resting in that knowledge. Example: My Grandmother died decades ago. This woman my Grandmother. She taught me how to make peach cobbler and Cat Head biscuits, the woman who lived next door from my childhood, jumped the fence to have fried chicken when my mother made liver and onions. When I make peach cobbler these days, the feeling I have smelling the oven-fresh the deliciousness is the joy.

3.      Peace: a state of mutual harmony between people or groups, especially in personal relations:

We are not speaking of the absence of war but a harmonious relationship with those persons and things around us.

4.      Longsuffering: is to endure injury trouble or provocation for an extended time with patience. This is tough, as we get trained to defend against offenses. There are times when the opportunity to fight back is warranted or desired but withholding that tendency is longsuffering.

5.      Gentleness is the quality of being gentle, not abrasive, with those around you.

6.      Goodness: is moral excellence virtue. The choice not to willingly not participate in negative situations surrounding us daily emphasizes the higher emotional quality response.

7.      Faith: the ability to see things that are not immediately evident and acting in such a way as the outcome has already happened.

8.      Meekness. The quality of being patient, quiet, not bombastic.

9.      Temperance: moderation or self-restraint in action control of oneself. (or) moderation in the indulgence in a natural appetite of passion.  I need to exhibit temperance in the realm of Oreo cookies.  One Oreo is fine. Two Oreos is also acceptable, but 27 is not.

Against the above: there is no law governing any of the above attributes. However, those who participate in the reverse have laws on the books that cover almost all those habits that are contrary to what is listed above. This present society teaches or, more importantly, makes merchandise of the opposite. Justice and mercy are not in the Molotov cocktail but lies with people that are not moved by negative emotions.

Changing the definition of what is good and fair for their own purposes. The media teaches the opposites of the Fruit of the Spirit as the ideal. They teach that discussion and discourse are not for the intelligent, but the week, as the strong take what they desire from the weak. We are taught that aggression is the ideal. With control of all thought and action for their goals are the fairest of the fair.  

        When confronted by a driver that drives aggressively, someone walking in the Spirit in that exact moment can and will exude longsuffering with the other person in that situation and will exude a gentle spirit.  This is not to say that the person found offense in the act, but conversely, it is not guaranteed that the victim of the aggressive driver cannot act aggressively in return; the person walking in the spirit has made a conscious choice not to.  Walking in the Spirit will avoid the situation and make every effort to avoid negative consequences for as long as possible, thus giving the other person time to disengage. The interaction between the two drivers is over. The one driver can go on to the next person, whereupon he can perform this aggressive driver trickery upon, and the other driver can move on from that incident. However, if the aggrieved driver insists on pressing the issue, the consequences can have an effect that can last for years or even a lifetime.  It is not wrong to have love, joy, and peace. 

It is admirable to exhibit longsuffering, gentleness, and faith, and it is desirable to show meekness and intelligence to walk with temperance. The side benefit of all those actions is there will be no need for legal counsel or a judge after an encounter with law enforcement by exhibiting the Fruit of the Spirit. That is a very desirable outcome and will save many heartaches and possibly money in the long run.