Building a Better Christian

What kind of long-range plans or goals do you have for your life?

Savings usually come to mind.  People may be saving for retirement some day.  Or saving money to help put children through college.  Or saving money just in case hard times hit you and your family.  For some it is to simply pay down their credit card bills.

Some of our "fruit" may be riper than others!

Others have goals to finish college or to obtain a certain job.  The goal may be career oriented.  Some people have their lives so mapped out that a deviation from the plan seems like a failure rather than a change in direction.

Some people may have unspoken expectations for their children.  Marriage (to someone respectable who will fit in with the family) and grandchildren are usually at the top of the list.

How many do you suppose have religious goals?

This Sunday, we will be looking at the fifth chapter of Galatians that feature the Fruit of the Holy Spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  These are generally the characteristics that a person who is growing in their faith in Christ should exhibit toward others.

As we think of these, would the average Christian say, “I expect to be more patient by this time next year?”  What about more joyful?

These may be hard to measure.

Faithfulness and generosity might be measurable if you set goals for attendance or giving and then kept track of how you did.

If our goal as Christians is to become more Christ-like, can we incorporate exhibiting these fruits on a more regular basis?

We'll be looking at these on Sunday as we consider our discipleship as it relates to our behavior!

In Christ,

Sam

Photo by Colin via Flickr.com, used under the Creative Commons license.