Some people can’t handle our freedom. They don’t know what to do with it. In response, they express anger when, in fact, they are dying from jealousy. They want that freedom for themselves but they aren’t confident that Christ can really unlocked the door to their cell. So the question then becomes: How can we love these people whose envy is the root of their disdain for us?
We can show them the way of the Spirit. One Spirit, one singular
fruit:
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control - (Galatians 5:22-23).
By surrender of our will and then allowing Christ to live through us, our lives can be so radically different. As the Spirit bears fruit in us, Christ is so incredibly attractive that many people will be drawn to Him through us like moths to light.
A life lived in the Spirit with this fruit is something everyone
wants to taste. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were so against Jesus and
everything He was teaching. They truly believed everything Jesus said was wrong
– blasphemy, rebellious – and yet, they couldn’t stop listening. They couldn’t
stop coming.
He was attractive to them and yet, they hated it. They tried to
kill the rebellion, never realizing that Jesus’ death was like inserting the
key into the prison door. And His resurrection flung open the door so that
every single person who hears and believes is free.
We are free to live that same radical, rebellious life of
freedom – a life so bright it’s attractive to the most skeptical of our kind. Allow
the fruit of the Spirit to be visible today, and others will be attracted to
Jesus!
Pray with Me:
Lord Jesus, my fruit doesn’t always look delicious like the
fruit of Your Spirit. There is room for me to grow in this freedom. There are
more ways I can express this Gospel of grace. But I can’t do it. Only You can.
I want my life to look radically different from what others are expecting; I
want it to look like You. So I ask that You dance through me today. Your Spirit
is a beautiful choreographer. Let me keep in step so that others are captivated
by the dance. Amen.
