Orange you glad I didn’t start this post off with a joke…oh wait… (Gosh, I sound like my father – actually, he would say that this post was appealing…ok, I’m done)…

I love me some fruit. Pretty much every fruit – with the exception of durian. Look it up. Smells absolutely horrid…Tasted it in Singapore. Not worth it… Take it from me, don’t try it and try not to be in close proximity to it because it stannnnnkkkkks.

Jackson is definitely my son because he also loves fruit. Bananas, watermelon, oranges, cuties, and lemon even.

He will eat pretty sparsely when it comes to other food, but fruit, he can’t get enough of.

Is it weird that when it comes to eating food we desire healthy, yummy fruit, but in our spiritual lives, often we starve ourselves. This is me, you guys. No…seriously!

I have been reading through Galatians this week. Now this book has always held a special place in my heart. It was a book in the Bible that catapulted my faith. It was a catalyst in helping me grow from the infant stage of my faith into a mature faith. It started in college when I was taking a class on how to interpret the Bible. We had to write a paper in that class and had to choose a topic. I chose Galatians 5 which talks about the fruit of the spirit.

Or so I thought…

A lot of the chapter focused on the deeds of the flesh and explains that a life that is living for Jesus in freedom is a life that produces fruit. And a life that is living for the flesh/our sinful desires, is one that produces deeds of the flesh.

Gosh, rereading this hit me like a ton of bricks. Deeds of the flesh…I exhibit a bunch of these: Jealousy, fits of anger, rivalry, dissensions, divisions, envy, strife, idolatry, enmity, etc., etc., etc.

Then I read through the fruit of the spirit: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control…

Oh boy, on my best day, I don’t exhibit these. Um, problem.

So, how did I get here? I read my Bible pretty much almost daily, I go to church and volunteer in several different areas of the church, I am in bible studies and book clubs. Shouldn’t I exhibit these?

Well, I think some of them I do better than others, but if you aren’t intentional about your walk with Jesus, why would you change? Why would you produce the fruit of the Spirit?

Right before the list of the deeds of the flesh and the fruit of the spirit, Paul says this:

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.

My gosh, if that doesn’t tell us that we need to be intentional, I don’t know what would. Kinda sounds like an SAT question.

It’s simple arithmetic, right?

If A then B. If C then D. Walk with the Spirit = not gratifying the flesh. Walk in the flesh = not gratifying the spirit.

Christ’s gift of grace makes things interesting. He has given us grace which by definition is undeserved. We, as imperfect, sinning humans, deserve death. We deserve a life separate from God because we chose that path. He has given us grace so that we can be in relationship with Him. Grace.

This grace gives us freedom – freedom from the pulls of the world. Freedom from those ‘deeds of the flesh’ mentioned above. And in that freedom he has given us, we aren’t bound to the law of religion. The law that says, ‘We must do this or that to be saved.’ No, we must believe and have faith in Jesus to be saved. Nothing more, nothing less.

So we take that freedom and run with it. I have been saved, and no deed I do can save me so who cares if I yell at my husband and talk harshly instead of in gentleness and respect. I have been saved, and no deed I do can save me, so who cares if I exhibit self-control when spending my money. I can go on and on and on.

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery,” (Galatians 5:1).

Thats it right there…. Sums it up better than I could.

We have been given freedom – freedom from the slavery of having to do x, y, and z in order to have salvation (see: catholicism, islam, mormonism, judaism, etc). In that freedom, we don’t use it to sin more, but to walk in the Spirit, to run towards Christ.

So, what am I going to do to exhibit the fruit of the spirit more often… delve into God’s word that he gave to us: the Bible. Read it with intentionality – what can I learn from this and how can I apply it to my life? Memorize His Word to combat the temptation to fall back into the deeds of the flesh. And lastly, and definitely not least, I will do it with people. I have a group of women that I meet with each week and we keep each other accountable. We encourage one another. And we eat together.

So, when you see my mug n’ muffin monday posts – thats us eating muffins together and drinking coffee and talking about how we can know God better and tell others about how he has changed our lives.

So, orange you glad I shared with you how ap-peal-ing Galatians 5 can be?! 😉