Gifts

Photo by Jennifer Pallian on Unsplash

Gift //"a thing given willingly to someone without payment; a present."

With autumn comes a certain kind of challenge - the struggle to transition from long, sunny August days into darkness, coldness and obviously, living in the UK, a lot of rain.

It seems that September is all about fresh beginnings after holiday season - a month of new routines and interesting opportunities. But October - we stumble into it, wondering how it’s become so autumnal so fast. We spend a lot of time trying to figure out what constitutes autumn clothing; when to turn the heating on; how many weeks until the clocks change.

October is always a bit of a blur in our office - which can sometimes feel like a good thing as it’s one of my least favourite months. All that coldness and darkness isn’t good for the soul, and mine especially takes a hit at this time of year. So, in a bid to try and find some meaning at this not-so-interesting time of year, I flicked to one of my favourite passages in the Bible:

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” - Galatians 5

These, the fruit of the Spirit, are better known as: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-Control. But my favourite thing about the particular translation above is that it emphasises that we don’t have to possess them before we can live God’s way. God gives them to us when we try to.

That’s what the Holy Spirit does - it works within. And so, as I come to an autumn season that will be a little bit challenging at times, I’m going to explore and develop a new sense of what these gifts mean.

Along the way, I’m going to write about each one, in turn - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control. Because even though I like exploring word definitions, I also like exploring the human qualities that we have been gifted. And this is a pretty exciting thing for a not-so interesting season.

This is the first blog in a new series on the Fruit of the Spirit. Follow the series by the label "The Gifts". 


Photo credit: Viktor Forgacs, Unsplash.