Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit 41 is love, 42 joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 43 5:23 gentleness, and 44 self-control.
Well, okay…one of the footnotes for the NET Bible translation of this verse says that everything following the word love could be read as defining the attributes of love. As a good human "doing" I would like to propose that we do a self-evaluation for each of these categories, on a scale of one to ten. Let’s be honest, okay?
Alright, there are eight attributes, that means that 80 is a perfect score, 0 would be quite a bit less than perfect. With me so far? Okay, let’s help out on the scale….
Joy: I have a song in my heart and a smile on my lips, that has got to be a 10…I frequently stay in bed until 2 p.m. and wear my pajamas all day while lying on the couch using the remote control…uh, a 0?
Peace: oh boy, I am going to pull the plug here and stop being clever…I’m holding myself up against these attrributes and I say woe is me…I have missed the mark, fallen short, where is my portable sackcloth and ashes and my velcro stripped rent-able clothing when I need it?
God help me! Live in me and through me, because when it is all said and done I am not very loving…I can’t decide if it is a good thing to want to be more "fruity." That is better than being fruitless, I guess.
And here is the kicker, there is no way I can "try" to be good…Trying is a waste of good energy…better to just give up! Yeah, that’s the ticket.


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