Finished with Fruits

What began as this great idea one afternoon in Barnes & Nobel, has become a chore.  I wish I could say that Ms. Manning's book, Harvesting the Fruit of the Spirit, became more interesting and enlightening as the chapters progressed.  But, alas reader, I cannot say this.

So today I am sharing with you all my inability to complete a book, and thus a Bible study.  I would like to sum up the fruits below.  My opinion of them.  And no, I will not be quoting myself when I write a book one day.

Love
God is Love.  Jesus taught us that we must love our neighbors, especially those who are difficult to love.  The most difficult part of this fruit, in my humble opinion, is loving everyone and everything that is God's.

Joy
Joy to me is the light of the spirit that radiates from certain individuals.  Those that truly understand what it is to be a child of God.

Peace
Inner peace is a wonderful gift you can give yourself.  Forgiving yourself and forgiving others, no matter what has transpired, is so difficult.  I suppose that is why there is such hatred, war, and anger in this world.

Patience
The Bible says that all things come in HIS time.  As a controlling woman, I find it is almost impossible to let His will be done.  His will can be completely opposite of what you wish, but we should not question that will.

Gentleness
Gentle and Kind.  Those two words seem to complement each other.  I believe if you love everything and everyone you will treat them kindly and with a gentle heart.

Goodness
When you know what is right and you do things and act the right way you are being good.  Ask any 5 year old, they know what good is:  "Being nice; sharing," says my six-year-old daughter, Zoe.  Can it be simpler than that?  No.

Faith
To have complete acceptance of something that cannot be proven as absolute truth.  To have faith in God is such a special fruit, and pretty much should be the first fruit.  Without faith in a greater power, one would probably not even consider loving those who are unlovable.  Even if there isn't a patriarchal God, believing that we are all connected is a belief based on faith.  We don't have a string tied to each other, but to believe that we are all from the same source is a faith in our connection.

Meekness
This fruit happens to also be a B-Attitude.  In Matthew 5:5 scripture states, "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."  When I did a Bible study on the B-attitudes a couple years back, I found meekness to be an exceptionally interesting study.  I disagree with Ms. Manning's quote, "Meekness is to be humble and submissive to the will of God."  I just have a real problem with the word: submissive.  Maybe it is from the new colloquial definition with bondage.  I think a better word is obedient.

Temperance
The first thing I think of is temperance with alcohol.  Many religious people do not drink, but I cannot imagine Jesus meant for us to not drink any alcohol.  After all, he was the one that turned water into wine at the wedding in Canon.  Ms. Manning suggests that we temper our emotions to those pleasing to God.  Makes sense.  But I still think Meek incorporates tempering our emotions and actions.  Eh, what do I know?

And thus concludes the fruits of the spirit.  I suppose I will try a completely different study in the future.