Fruits of the Spirit

I've been dragging my feet on church lately.  We've been super lazy on Sundays and just haven't made it a priority to get up and go.  No real reason other than pajamas are great.  There are times that I feel really guilty about it, and there are times that I think God knows my heart and forgives me.  Both are true- I do trust that He will forgive me over and over because I constantly need it, but I still think it's okay to have a little guilt when you're not on track and you know it.  :)

ANYWAY.  All that to say, I went to church this morning and it was some excellent food for thought- all about fruits of the spirit.  You see what I did there?  Good grief I'm a dork.  (and autocorrect changed that to "good brie I'm a fork".  no lie- all about the foods here today apparently.)

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness/generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  I've learned so many little bible verse songs about them over the years and can spout them off like any good graduate of the youth group.  How many of us actually take the time to live them daily though?

Things that struck me from today's message:

• Joy is not the same thing as happiness.  Joy is internal, and is a choice you make on how you respond to your circumstances.  You can live in terrible times and still have joy, just like living in a lot of material wealth doesn't necessarily ensure happiness.  
• Patience is waiting with grace, and practicing a non-anxious presence in the midst of strife, accepting people where they are.  Wow.  My mom always says that you should never ask God for more patience, because instead of just fairy-dusting it down on you, He'll give you more opportunities where you need to develop patience.  Waiting with grace.  Practicing a non-anxious presence.  These things sound incredibly hard to manage sometimes, but just imagine for a minute how much richer your life would be, and how much nicer for the people around you, if you DID IT.
• Gentleness: the ability to give people space to grow.  Also being gentle with yourself- allow YOU to be YOU, even when you're not being a very good you.  I like that a lot.  We all have days or even seasons when we know we're not at our best.  Gentleness allows for forgiveness, and for knowing that we won't be in this place forever.

Being a person who believes in and relies on God, I love these new little nuggets of thinking about fruits.  I think though that even if you're a person who feels far from God or you don't believe He's there, that living this way is better than feeling small and sad and petty and bitter.  

Choose to find joy in your circumstances.  Even if you're unhappy about things from time to time, don't let that steal your JOY.

Accept people where they are.  Assume that they're doing the best they can with what they have, just like you are.  Practice a non-anxious presence.  Wait with grace.

Be gentle with yourself and with the people you're sharing life with.

Or if all that is too much, pick one to work on and just start.  Work on being a better you.