Don’t Grieve The Holy Spirit
What have I learned about Pentecost and how will I incorporate it into my life? I’ve been reminded of the fruit of the Spirit. I need to reflect the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control that is the Holy Spirit. I need to remember the warning in Galatians 5:23 to not grieve the Spirit.
I hope we can reflect together on all that is the Holy Spirit. With God’s guidance and reading scripture we should be able to gather all we need to bring the Spirit into our lives and be better stewards of God’s love.
That is probably the most important lesson here. God gave us the Holy Spirit. It is a divine gift and it is ours. We can keep it by recognizing and developing the fruit of the Spirit. How simple is that? Is it as easy as remembering a bible verse? Can we remember to nurture love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control in our lives? Can we teach our children to do the same?
I hope so. I want and need all the goodness that is part of that promise so I will focus on Galatians 5:16-26 that calls us to live by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16-26
So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.
The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
How will you incorporate the Holy Spirit into your life?
Subscribe to this blog's RSS feed
Christian Book Review, The Hand of God
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
Psalm 19:1-2 (NIV)
“Deep sky is, of all visual impressions, the nearest akin to a feeling.” Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Notebooks - selected from The Hand of God.
Who has not looked up at […]
The Holy Spirit Comes at Pentecost
As a child of God, we know that we serve a purpose and have a role to play in furthering God’s Kingdom. Whether we are the hands, feet, eyes or ears of God, our role is important. As women, we also need to note that our role may not be as traditional as we may […]
Pentecost, Birthday of the Christian Church
Pentecost means “the fiftieth” in Greek and it represents the fiftieth day after Easter. It was fifty days after Christ’s resurrection that Jesus visited the Apostles. At this time the Holy Ghost descended upon them. Pentecost also represented the Jewish festival, “feast of weeks” where the Jews would bring the first fruits of their harvest […]
Pentecost and the Fruit of the Spirit
John 20:19-23
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw […]
Happy Mother’s Day
I remembered my mother’s copy of Poems of Childhood by Eugene Field. It was probably the most used in a set of classics that she kept. She would read them and then I would read them and I was so happy recently when she presented me with the copy of his verse.
A few years […]
Christian Women Who Advanced Mother’s Day
The Mother’s Day Proclamation of 1870 was intended to be the start of a celebration of mothers by Julia Ward Howe. Julia Ward Howe was an abolitionist poet who was accomplished in many arenas and while she may be known for writing The Battle Hymn of the Republic, her efforts to begin a Mother’s Day […]
The Christian Dollar
Forget about Easter and Christmas when you can gift shop for your family. Christians today can spend money any time of the year. Retailers know this and family Christian stores are available in most communities. However some have been hit hard in the last five years or so because competition from bigger retailers looking for […]
Christians Live the American Dream
Are American Christians living the American dream? Today more than ever we see competition for the Christian dollar. Setting the holidays aside, shopping for religious or faith-based products is growing. This more than adds to growing opportunities for Christian business men and women.
What are we seeing exactly in the Christian community? We’re seeing Christians, both […]
The Christian Women in our Lives
If you’re a Christian woman you probably have a good network of friends. Maybe your church has a group that brings Christian women together. Most denominations have women organizations that encourage us coming together on a regular basis to strengthen our faith. They even send publications to their members on women’s topics.As a Christian woman, […]