It seems that I do a lot of my best thinking in that small window of time between waking up and getting up. I’m not really sure why that is. I think that God uses that time to speak, because my brain is not engaged enough to interfere with what he’s saying. The other night, I was stressing about the normal trials of life, and as I drifted off to sleep, I prayed for God’s guidance in getting through the week. The next morning, as I shut off the alarm and laid there trying to regain consciousness, a couple of thoughts came to mind.
It started with the Fruits of the Spirit. I think it must have been a song running through my head...love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness faithfulness and self control…no real rhyme or reason to it – just the song playing on.
Then I thought of with Benjamin Franklin – a very strange segue indeed. I remember learning that at age twenty, he came up with a list of thirteen virtues. They included Temperance, Silence, Order, Resolution, Frugality, Industry, Sincerity, Justice, Moderation, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity and Humility. Franklin spent the rest of his life working to embrace them, focusing on one particular trait each week.
The thought then came to me; what would my life be like if I chose to work on living the Fruits of the Spirit? What if I spent a week focusing on just loving people? What would that look like? How would I practice Gentleness? Faithfulness? As my eyes finally opened and I began to greet the day, I decided to spend this week doing just that. Love people. Love them when I feel crabby. Love them when I feel frustrated. Love them when things are going great. Love them when life gets overwhelming. There’s no scorecard, no tally sheet. Fortunately, we serve a God of grace, who knows that we are imperfect vessels at best. I don’t assume to solve the mysteries of life by doing this, but if it brings growth and a closer walk with God, it’s a great thing. How will this go? Time will tell…
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