"Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body …. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.” Romans 12:4-6 NIV
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Did you know God gives His Followers spiritual Gifts so we can produce nourishing Fruit that fuels not only our spirit, but nurtures others too—so we can build each other up along with His righteous Kingdom. An added bonus is as we’re bearing righteous Fruit, we gain a special joy of life.
But without meaning to, we can ruin our joy by critically comparing our own “Fruit” with that of others we admire, which can discourage us. We fail to see the Fruit of us all contain the same basic nutrients that are spiritually meaningful (like what we see in the below verse) but it can LOOK very different because of their own spiritual Gift, which God gave them.
To better drive that freeing truth home, let’s imagine spiritual Gifts being like various types of fruit trees. The “Fruit” produced by the “Tree of Teaching” is going to look different than the Fruit produced by the “Tree of Serving”, isn’t it. But both nourishes and build lives in some way. We can then be encouraged, knowing God gave us specific Gifts (we can have more than one) by design—for a purpose—and we’re producing Fruit like He designed us to be. That brings our joy back too.
Let’s purposefully keep our eyes off others and keep them on Christ instead, as we faithfully follow Him. When we do, it keeps us rooted in Him so we’re able to produce His kind of Fruit that enriches lives and hearts, like HE already knew we can do.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control….” Galatians 5:22-23 NIV
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Evelyn is retired from 26+ years in Christian ministry, and now shares on Social Media.
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