Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Puzzle Pieces.


Sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I read the list of the "Fruits of the Spirit": Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Especially self-control. But I heard Joyce Meyer say the other day that all the things we need to be are like pieces of a puzzle. The one thing that can put these pieces together is our time with God.

Study the Bible and pray. This is our work. The work of God is to make us like himself, to give us these fruits of the Spirit.

We cannot make ourselves good in any way. God alone can give us a good heart and as Jesus said, "Without me, you can do nothing." When I remember that only God can make us good I can relax and let go of guilt and fear. I can rely on him to do it in his way and on his time schedule. But I must do my part, which is to spend quality time with God alone each day.

2 comments:

betty said...

That is so true, Belle; on our own we can't do it but through God's Holy Spirit, we can get that fruit! And that is asking for it and spending time in his word like you said. I was the most impatient person in my past and I didn't like it, so I asked God to help me work on patience, boy did he, me catching every single red light (especially when I was in a hurry, LOL) but in time I am not impatient like I was. I think if we allow him to work in our life and stay faithful to him we will be fruitful and that fruit will be part of how we live!

betty

Belle said...

Yes, I have seen God change my heart too. I used to be quite judgmental and over the years God has shown me I am more than capable of doing the same thing I judged other people for.