December 26th
Gifts of the Spirit
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control. There is no law against such things. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have
crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided
by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against
one another, envying one another.
Galatians 5:22-26
This
is the season of giving, the season of gifts.
I hope your Christmas was filled with joy and peace yesterday and the
gifts that you gave had their desired impact.
There have been many years when my son’s favorite gift from Christmas
was the box that the gift came in or the catalog/flyer that was included in the
packaging. There were many years where
all his toys were already broken by December 26th. Gifts are always hit and miss.
Except
when it comes to the gifts of the Spirit…see what I did there? The Holy Spirit is with us and longs to give
us gifts that are both what we want and what we truly need. They include
love,
joy,
peace,
patience,
kindness,
generosity,
faithfulness,
gentleness,
and
self-control.
I can almost feel my breathing slow
down and my muscles unclench as I go through that list in my mind. If there is any time of the year when we need
these things the most, it is right now.
Holidays can be loud and stressful and sleep-deprived times where we
just want our kids to be happy and yet there are tears and panic attacks and over-excitement
and over-tiredness. The actual present
opening can be overwhelming on a good day.
Talking to all the relatives can push everyone’s buttons. We press through because we have to, but joy
and peace are nowhere to be found.
And
then the Spirit turns to us and offers this rich bounty:
Love for the angry and the hurting
and the overwhelmed,
Joy
for the tired and the bitter,
Peace
for the stressed,
Patience
for the one whose child pushed them over and over again,
Kindness
to see the overwhelmed looks and respond gently,
Generosity
to give of ourselves once again,
Faithfulness
to care for these that God has given, Gentleness
to speak with tenderness,
and
self-control, always self-control.
These are what we need today to love
these wonderful, chaotic children that we have been given. I have friends who talk about their magical
holidays with their kids. Our magic
trick is escaping without an overabundance of tears and swearing. We are able to do that, not because of the
books or the games or the sweaters that we received on Christmas.
We
are able to do that because the Holy Spirit pours out good gifts. Let us receive these gifts. Let us embrace these gifts. Let us be generous and share these gifts with
our children and our families and others that we come across.
Yesterday
was a day for receiving gifts. Today is
when we start using them for the improvement of our lives together.
A moment to reflect:
Which gift of the Spirit do you need most at the moment? Spend some time asking God for it.
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