In The Paths of Righteousness

He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake. (Psalm 23:3b)

Our God is marked by His grace and mercy. These two key traits are how we best know our Messiah -- they are manifestations of His great love for us. We, meanwhile, are known by our need for His grace and mercy. If you're a Christian, this is pretty basic stuff. You don't come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ without first understanding what it is you need to be saved from. 

One of the wonderful things about having a God who saves though, is that He knows our strengths and weaknesses. Take, for example, Jesus' admonition in Matthew 5:48 to "be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." Does He really believe you and I, in our own strength, can come even close to that kind of standard? If He did, He wouldn't have needed to die. 

No. He knows you and I aren't capable of perfection. We take a couple steps toward Righteousness and are as completely lost as a ship in fog with no navigation. But He doesn't expect us to tread the path of Righteousness on our own. Instead, He leads us. 

This is part of what it means to be a shepherd. The sheep don't always know the way. They don't always have the destination in mind. They get distracted. But the Shepherd knows where He's going. He knows what the sheep need, and how to get them there. So He leads. 

And the leading, too, is a part of His grace.

The Spirit of God: The Cultivator of Perfection

"Fruit of the Spirit," by Amber Hadden
Available thru Fine Art America.

I talk a lot about the Fruit of the Spirit. Even though Scripture only lists these attributes in this manner once, their importance is undeniable.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
 
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 5:18-23)

  
Part of the reason these things are, I believe, so important is because they are the attributes of God.  Right before Paul lists the forbidden acts of the flesh, Paul reminds us we are now under Grace, and living in the Spirit of God -- and are therefore not under the law. However, these two ideas are inseparable. You can't live outside the law -- that is you are still subject to punishment under it -- unless the Spirit dwells within you. How do you know the Spirit dwells within you? Because, through Him, you exhibit love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

These things are, if you like, the fruits of the seed the Holy Spirit plants in your life. God is a great farmer: if your soil -- your heart -- is prepared, He will cultivate His attitudes and attributes in your life. We have freedom in Christ -- that is, we are no longer penalized under the Law -- because these fleshly acts are no longer a part of who we are. The soil of our hearts has been stripped and churned and replanted with the Spirit. 

We are called, then, to "Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect (Matthew 5:48)." God not only saves us from the penalty of sin, he calls us out of our sinful lives, and gives His spirit to live and work within us to make us more like Him. To love as He loves; to be joyful as He is joyful and peaceful as He is peaceful. We are called to be kind, good, and faithful -- just as the God who holds back nothing good from His children, and who indeed gave even His own son as a sacrifice. To be as gentle as the Shepherd who leads us beside still waters and restores our souls (Psalm 23), and as self-controlled as the God who stays His hand and gives grace instead of wrath. 

I love reading about the fruits of the Spirit, not only because they remind me who I ought to be, but because they are a picture of who our God already is!