You know what I've been thinking about? Joy. It just occured to me the other day that joy is one of the fruits of the spirit. Which is incredibly interesting, because that's basically saying that if you are a true mature Christian, you will be joyful. And I find that this more or less rings true with the really strong Christians I know.
It's awesome, too, because if we were all really joyful, that would set us apart from the world like nothing else. It would be such an obvious difference, and not the kind of difference that drives people away, either. So in other words, SMILE, JESUS LOVES YOU!!! Haha, sorry, couldn't resist.
Another weird fruit of the spirit is peace. Elizabeth reminded me of the verse that says, "And the PEACE of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." And I guess it's true, if I really believe the things I say I believe, they should give me enough comfort to be at peace with any situation.
And then there's Self Control. I'm so terrible at this. It's just weird to me to realize that these are Christian traits. Not just irrelevent, nice-person characteristics, but Christ characteristics. I thought that was interesting.
I'd say one of the reasons Christians are not always joyful is because we try too often to rely on ourselves and not God when there are troubles in our lives.
ReplyDeleteOne of the things that keeps me from being joyful is when I sin the same stupid thing for the 100th time in the same day. By then I just don't feel like I should even waste God's time asking him for forgiveness since I know I'm just going to screw up again. Unfortunately I sometimes believe that and I've fallen into the Devil's little trap he's notoriously set up foe me. But other times I realize that no matter what I do God can forgive me of anything. But need to not live by the mentality of "it's easier to ask forgiveness than permission." Cause that is another lie.
Another thing we should be joyful about is the fact that God loves us. Think about it. He gave humans everything we would ever need! And it wasn't like he was asking a lot of us either. The only thing we couldn't do was eat fruit off of one tree. As long as we didn't eat it we could live forever, we wouldn't sin, the Earth was perfectly beautiful, and we'd be in fellowship with God Himself for eternity. Literal heaven on earth. But no!!! We think we're somehow getting the short end of the stick and that God is being unfair. So we eat the stinkin fruit and the rest is history.
What I'm getting at here is that when we disobeyed God He had every right to destroy humanity (Which he almost did later with Noah) and start over with a clean slate. He didn't have to kill His Son on the cross just so a bunch of lousy humans could spend eternity with Him. But that's why God is so awesome!
Btw, very nicely put....uh... whoever you are up there XD I just read your comment. And I can't remember what your name is. *facepalm*
ReplyDeleteI completely agree.
ReplyDeleteArgh. Ignore all those grammar mistakes. I should proof read next time.
ReplyDeleteLet me quote Em from hecka days ago when she first introduced me:
ReplyDelete"...And Nathan ("{g4G}SomeThingWeird") also used to go to my church and now lives in California..."
My family used to go to Emmanuel and we moved to NorCal in 97 or 98. I used to be best friends with Elizabeth hecka days ago. :D
Dude, my family should come up and visit sometime. You were my original homies. Haha!
The Hodgens! Right Sarah? My cousins are always talking about the Hodgens and I think he used to be a pastor of your church and I think he moved to California.
ReplyDeleteYes, Nathan, that would be totally AWESOME if you guys could come see us some time! I mean, there are so many people up here who would love to see you guys, I think you should trick your parents into comming next summer. :-D
That's such a good point, about sinning over and over again and still needing to throw yourself on God's forgiveness... I find that often I'm too proud to accept forgiveness, which is so stupid. Good thoughts everyone!
Matt, I watched the video you put on my last post! It was really cool. People can be so creative, my goodness. I especially liked the part where she was leaping from pillow to pillow and then she missed and fell through and was suddenly falling through all the pillows, that was really well done. Thanks for sharring!
ReplyDeleteYes! Hodgins, that would be them. Ah, I miss them so much....
ReplyDeleteAm I near La Mirada? No, but I go there a few times a year. I live about about 360 miles north and voilà. You've found Brentwood. Brentwood, according to Google maps, is about 49.3 miles east of San Francisco
ReplyDeleteIf I stayed on I-5 long enough I'd probably get to WA. I'd get to La Mirada too. Hmmm... Sounds like a conspiracy. Lol! :-P That's for you. Emily.