Action and Reaction

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23

It really is a blessing when I allow God's words to permeate my soul, sometimes showing up in this blog like they did yesterday, because sometimes He really does validate what I've written or prayed about. Today's verse is the perfect follow-up to yesterday's post. As servants of Christ, we are to exhibit the love and character of God himself. But what is God's character? We are but humans; he is the creator. There is no way we can understand how God himself would act.

We have the apostle's words to show us how we should act in order to further the work of Christ. We are to act in love and gentleness, kindness and patience - qualities that are hard to come by. Yesterday I wrote about having a servant's heart, mainly as it applies to work. But part of having a servant's heart is to act in love and kindness with self-control. People can get pretty worked up, but our reaction is what will change their minds for Christ - or turn them off.

I'll end with a twist on a popular phrase circling social media: Don't be the change you want to see in the world; be the change the God wants in the world.