Fruit of the Spirit

24 has been a good year for me in a lot of ways so far. I credit this year of my life with being the one where I became my own person. This is the year that I stopped living my life through other people and started to figure out what it was I wanted from life, not caring what others thought or said I should do. Up until this year my life was not about me, it was about the people around me. It was about what other people thought, and what other people wanted at all times. I made decisions based on other people's decisions. I decided what I liked based on what others liked. I decided what to do based on what others were going to do. This year, I found myself hidden behind all those other people. Turns out, I like the person I am all by myself. It's unfortunate that it took me 24 years to figure that out.

That being said, who am I? Or more importantly, what kind of person am I now striving to be:

I want to be a person who:

- loves and shares Jesus

- loves others selflessly

- recognizes all the blessings in life

- shares their blessings with others

- helps others and gives back

- is approachable, forgiving, and friendly

- trusts in God's timing

I was driving around earlier, making this list in my head with the intention of writing it down later, when all of a sudden the idea of the Fruit of the Spirit popped into my head. It has been a LONG time since I have read, or heard about, the Fruits of the Spirit (seriously, since I was a kid I think) and yet, as if out of no where, I remembered this verse:

But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control ... - Galatians 5:22-23

As I was thinking about this, I realized that a lot of the qualities on my list of things I want from my life line up perfectly with the things God wants from my life, as described in the above verse:

- loves and shares Jesus (faithfulness)

- loves others selflessly (love)

- recognizes all the blessings in life (joy)

- shares their blessings with others (kindness)

- helps others and gives back (goodness)

- is approachable, forgiving, and friendly (gentleness)

- trusts in God's timing (patience)

All that was missing from my initial list were peace and self control. I could write a whole other post only on self control, but I think for now I'll just go ahead and say that there are definitely aspects of my life I want to have more self control in. And peace? Well, haven't I been working on that all along? Ever since I got moved into second grade this year I have tried really hard to feel God's peace in every situation. Every time I get stressed I try and remind myself of this. In fact, just read my previous post and you will see an example of this.

Funny how without even realizing it I had come up with a list of qualities I wanted to be part of my life and part of who I am, that have a direct correlation to the nine qualities that God wants out of my life and filled me with the moment he entered my heart. I say funny, but what I mean is amazing. Isn't that just what God does? Isn't that exactly how He works? Isn't He amazing?!? I love moments like that, where I can clearly hear Him speaking clearly to me. No deciphering necessary; clear as day I can hear what He has to say.

I spent the first part of this 24th year of my life figuring out what I wanted from my life. I found myself behind all the people I had tried so hard to hide behind for so long. I figured out what I wanted my life to be. Now, in the second half of this year, I am going to really focus on making each of those qualities a central part of my life. I am going to work on making each of those things so deeply ingrained in who I am that when others see me, that is what they see.