Song: Reflection by Anita Wilson
You’re probably thinking duck, but I don’t eat duck and believe it or not this has nothing to do with food. The title is a mental game I play with myself. I might have mentioned that I’m partially deaf, so a lot of what I “hear” is visually and contextually gleaned. I’ve gotten pretty good at this over the years and it’s always something I do to avoid drawing attention to myself……So…..
As the world appears to be losing all semblance of sense, in any form, I noticed that the word Christian is being bandied about. I read something so extra wow that I got my bible out and did a bit of research to make sure I wasn’t going completely nuts. So here it is; if a person does one big gesture that fits into the mold of how a “Christian” should act or feel, then they are considered Saved or Delivered. Despite all previous, current on going and verbal disparities. I’ve admitted before that I struggle with reconciling what I was taught and what seems true today, but come on.
Let me start by saying gifts and fruits of the spirit are different; and while I believe you can have or demonstrate both, I also believe you can exhibit a gift with zero fruit bearing. Analogies are how I make sense of the world, so this is what I came up with…..no one goes to an apple orchard looking at the ground for pretty wrapped boxes. The same applies to Christmas, no one goes to pick out a tree combing the branches for an apple. May I ask why do we treat people that way?
I once had someone tell me I wasn’t going to heaven because I didn’t speak in tongues. They caught me on a bad day because I told them that we’ll probably be going to hell together because the man she was sexing was not her husband, and she did have one. (Total tangent)
My point is I’d personally rather exhibit the fruits of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) because that is a sign of the presence of God, gifts (Romans 12:6-8)!are without repentance (Romans 11:29), meaning, you can use what you were born with having never to acknowledge God for it. Still trying to figure out my gift, but so thankful for the processes that manifest my fruit.