| “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” |
| —Galatians 5:22-23 |
I’m not much of a shopper, particularly a grocery shopper. I suppose I developed a slight aversion to grocery shopping because, when I entered 7th grade and no longer came home for lunch each day, my mother went back to full-time work. Part of my new chores under this arrangement was to take a list she had made and complete each week’s grocery shopping. My dad would drop me off at the supermarket and pick me up an hour or so later.
Now I realize that my six years of weekly shopping during those long ago days does not begin to compare to the shopping that many other people do—both men and women, though I suspect that more women, by far, do the grocery shopping than men. Nevertheless, I have successfully avoided grocery shopping for the last 64 years.
I do realize that part of being a good shopper is knowing how to choose the best fruit and vegetables. It takes someone with knowledge-based experience. You can imagine how long it took me, as a 12-year-old boy, to even come close to learning what signs to look for that the fruits and vegetables I was choosing would meet my mom’s high standards.
In our spiritual lives, we also have the opportunity to choose the fruit we will pursue. Fortunately, we have some guidance from the pen of the Apostle Paul. Notice his strong recommendations, as recorded in Galatians 5:22-23:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
As this new day opens up before us, we have another opportunity to pursue the very best spiritual fruit. Let’s decide, at the very beginning of this day, to choose to pursue the fruit outlined by the Apostle Paul. Fortunately, we don’t have to make this choice alone. The Holy Spirit stands ready to help us. Let’s open our hearts and minds to His leading this very day.
Based on a blog originally posted on Friday, July 7, 2017
