Good Things Come in Threes
I keep wondering if there is anything to the order or to the number of virtues listed as the "fruit of the Spirit"? Some commentators think there are three groups of three: The first three deal with virtues and attitudes, the second group of three deal with the ways we express our attitudes to others, the final three are more inward. I'm not so sure it is all that neat and clean. Still, I have noticed that preaching through these one-by-one has allowed for some possibility for progression. For instance, is it possible that peace leads into patience? Could it be that you cannot practice "kindness" without learning how to live at peace with others (and yourself), as well as "patience" as an act of kindness? Do these virtues overlap in significant ways?
posted by Jeff Christian @ 4:32 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Rather than focus on overlap between the fruits, I have pointed back to God with each one and used Him as the overlap, so to speak. They are the fruit of the Spirit. If we get the Spirit in increasing measure, we get the fruit.
Yesterday, for example, I talked about the fact that for us Americans patience is not a juicy, ripe, attractive fruit that we long to pluck from the tree. Rather it is like our least favorite vegetable put on our plate by Mom, getting cold and less attractive. We eat it only because we have to in order to get dessert.
If, however, we focus on God, if we taste and see that He is good, we will see that His rewards are better than the rewards of time management and productivity. And thus getting more of Him, we will bear more of the fruit of patience.
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Chris,
I like the focus on God. I think there is room for overlap, which I think is what we are both doing in unique ways.
The reason I brought it up was because of the recent hurricanes and the ways we have seen refugees come into our city. Couple that with people saying things like, "New Orleans got what was coming to them." I knew that there had to be a tangential conversation this past Sunday about cultivating peace and patience in the midst of such insensitive--and downright sinful--statements.
Peace and patience.
By the way, the "comment removed by the administrator" was just a move to the main page under the kindness heading.
Jeff
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