The Gifts of the Spirit

Hello friends! With our theme this month being love, I can't help but think of the fruits of the Spirit.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

Galatians 5:22

The Spirit produces these things so when the Holy Spirit resides in us we receive the gifts of the Spirit:

• Wisdom

• Understanding

• Counsel

• Fortitude

• Knowledge

• Piety

• Fear of the Lord

We receive wisdom, understanding, and knowledge to better grasp what God is telling us, to better understand His word, and to be able to know God's perfect will for us.

We receive counsel which is advice from God.

We receive fortitude which is courage in pain or adversity.

We receive piety which is love and reverence for God or devotion to God.

And lastly we receive fear of the Lord. I don't think of fear of the Lord as: if I disobey Him I get casted into the fiery inferno or that God will desert me or anything of that sort. When I think of the fear of God, I understand that I am God's child and I fear Him as a child would fear their father figure when they have disobeyed. God doesn't pull out His wrath on me; Infact, the one thing that gets me is to feel like I have let Him down or disappointed Him. I know that His wrath will come on judgement day, but that is where Jesus comes in - where grace comes in.

So we receive all these things that help us ditch our earthly mentality and to be able to fully understand God so that we can receive advice and courage from God and devotion to God. And so we can obey the Father like we would obey a worldly father so we can have a true relationship with Him.

God loves us. He gives us these things and shows us these things in love. If God didn't love us He would not have wrath for us. He would just let this earth implode and us with it. In the same way that a father might smack a child's hand that is about to touch a hot griddle to get his attention; God has to get our attention somehow. God's wrath proves that He cares for us. A uncaring father might just abandon their child, but a caring one will stick around and raise the child. And raising includes giving them wisdom, understanding, knowledge, love, and making sure they do the right thing.

That's all God is doing. He is raising us up. He loves us so much and He wants us to love Him back. Not just fear Him, but love Him. My friends I hope you find something to smile about today. I hope you embrace God's love and the gifts of the Spirit.