Bearing fruit

I want to be patient. I want to be gentle. I want to have peace, joy, goodness... I want to love and be loved. I can desire these and still not have them. I can practice all kinds of techniques and disciplines and still fall short. I may occasionally act kind. I may periodically find myself being patient with a situation that would otherwise cause much impatience. Yet these instances of fruitfulness do not make me the kind of person I want to be. They only serve as occasional contrasts to the person I am. I wish to be the kind of person from whom these things naturally flow out. 

Jesus said, "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in me." The key to fruitfulness is to abide. In order to become the kind of person I want to be I must abide in Christ. Christ is not simply some historical figure I must look at from a distance in order to pattern my life after, he is a living shelter into which my soul must take residence moment by moment, day by day. 

There are all kinds of "shelters" offered by the world around me. The question is, which one am I living in? Some of these places are simply distractions that keep me from my true home. They look like comfortable abodes, and they are, for awhile. But soon they cease to bring about the promised comfort. They may seem safe for awhile, but they soon become treacherous. 

It requires intentionality to continue in Christ. As soon as I recognize that I am no longer bearing the fruits of the Spirit I must turn my heart back toward my true home in Christ. I say to The Lord, "My soul finds rest in you alone."

I don't know what makes me think that I can become the man I desire in my own strength. It is not in me to do this. But there is a power that comes form God and resides in my soul. As I abide in Christ, His Spirit takes up residence in me and empowers me to live in Christ, the life I was created to live; the life I desire to live. 

May I continue to abide in Christ. May I find myself resting in the shelter of his wings. When my soul finds its true home in Christ, His Spirit is at home in me.