Spiritual Poverty.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 5:3

Poor in spirit - One who is deeply sensible of his spiritual poverty and wretchedness. 

The poor in spirit. The humble, in contrast with the haughty; those sensible of spiritual destitution. The same state of mind is referred to when he speaks elsewhere of a contrite and broken spirit.

http://bible.cc/matthew/5-3.htm

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." Galatians 5:22,23

It's not a great feeling to realize we are poor in spirit. We look at ourselves and compare ourselves to Jesus or other people and see we fall far short. We read this list of the fruits of the Spirit and know we need improvement in all of them.

But Jesus says we are blessed when we realize how worldly and sinful we are. We are fortunate to see we need His help. It is those who think they are good enough who are in darkness. 

We will never believe ourselves to have reached perfection because the only perfect human has been Christ. He covers us with his perfection. Perfection in spirit is a goal to aspire to, and it is a worthy one. Who wouldn't want to have all the fruits of the spirit continually pouring through our life?

The wonderful thing is that as we ask God each day to live his life within us the fruits of the Spirit grow and grow. He has promised us this and I believe Him. But don't put him on a timetable and don't expect to one day feel you've "made it". Look away from yourself and look to Jesus "The Author and Finisher of our faith." Hebrews 12:2

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.