Year of the Bible

“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” (Gal. 5:22–23, NIV).

When I think about the fruit of the Spirit, I think about our pastor’s Week of Prayer. Each day he focused on one “Fruit of the Spirit” and brought a different fruit to represent that particular “fruit.” He told us how the fruit was good for our bodies, and then related it to our spiritual lives. At the end of each talk, we got to taste the yummy fruit.

When I think about the fruit of the Spirit, some fruits stick out more than others. They are all important, but love, patience, faithfulness and self-control are the ones that mean the most to me.

“Then a voice came from heaven, ‘You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased’” (Mark 1:11, NKJV).

When I was a child, praise had to be earned, and success seemed just out of reach. I was born with misshaped hips and legs, resulting in my needing to wear braces on my legs. This delayed my ability to walk, and completely canceled any ability to run or ride tricycles until the braces could be removed.

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:4, NKJV).

You never expect it will happen to you. On May 23, 2016, at around 11 a.m., my (seemingly) perfectly healthy 13-year-old son collapsed at school from a sudden cardiac arrest (SCA). Providentially, my husband and I, teachers at the small Adventist school, had recently been trained in CPR. But we never expected to use it beyond CPR class, let alone on our own son.

“And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him. Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness” (Col. 2:6–7, NLT).

I find that my favorite text can shift depending on where I am in my spiritual journey. At times, I have found over the years that it seems easier to whine about issues than change my attitude to “overflow with thankfulness.” The text states that as I grow in Christ and my life is built on Him, then the natural overflow will be thankfulness, for the fruit of a mature Christian is thankfulness.

“I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4, KJV).

On Sunday, March 29, 2020, I received a call from my daughter Andrea, a nurse, telling me that she had a temperature of over 101 degrees, was being sent home from work and was going to be tested for COVID-19. I prayed with my daughter and claimed God’s promises over her.