“But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these.”—Galatians 5:22-23 (GNT)

Do I reflect the character, purpose and mission of Jesus? Am I being kind, loving, peaceful,and patient with those around me? Are these qualities people notice about me?

God has laid it on my heart to be bolder with my faith. How do I do that without being “pushy?” When I give away my knit gifts, I display some of the fruits of the Spirit noted in Galatians. Attached to them is a tag with a scripture and note that says the gift was prayed over for them. This is a small way I am able to share the Gospel in a loving way. Will they read it or throw it away? It’s possible someone will reject me and my gift but that shouldn’t keep me from trying.

I know it is not always easy to be gentle in a world marked by meanness. “But the Spirit produces love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, and self-control. There is no law against such things as these. “—Galatians 5:22-23 (GNT) does not tell us to be passive, but because God is loving and gentle with me, I need to be modeling that same behavior with others. 

Am I? This may be a silly example, but the other day at the pharmacy, I was waiting at the counter to see if they had an over the counter medication. Another woman and her husband walked up after me. When someone became available, he asked how he could help them. I thought for sure, they would say, she was here first, but they did not. 

They didn’t have a quick question to ask like I did. They had a problem with a prescription, which took several minutes without any resolution. I’m not going to say I wasn’t irritated, because I was. When the clerk came over to me, I quickly found out what I needed was not in stock. I wish I could say I responded with a Christ-like attitude, but I found myself saying, I waited all this time for nothing. As soon as those words tumbled out of my mouth I was convicted and apologized. It wasn’t his fault. Not to mention, I could have spoken up and told him, I was there first and had a quick question, but I didn’t.

I thought by letting those people go first even though they knew I was there before them was the right thing to do, which it was. They obviously were stressed out about something and might have been oblivious to me standing next to them. I don’t know. What I do know is, I missed an opportunity to be praying for someone rather than be irritated with them and didn’t exude kindness to the clerk, who was diligently working to help fill orders before he took a break to help us.

Have you been in a situation recently where you regretted your response? How could an internal prayer or kind reply have changed the atmosphere? We are all a work in progress and thankfully, we get another chance to react differently the next time something similar happens to us. We are Christ’s representatives in this lost world in which we live. Wherever we step foot, we can be the church because we have the Holy Spirit within us.

Father God, 

Help me to be the church wherever I go this week. Please forgive me when I try and justify my sins. Help me to show humility when I have said or done something that I know isn’t God honoring. Thank You for the Holy Spirit that convicts me of wrong actions and attitudes, I lift those up to You who are feeling discouraged by the stress at home or at work. I pray these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. 

January Verse
“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”—Psalm 119:105

If you are knitting or crocheting gifts to give away, please make sure you tweet @KnitPrayShare or share your projects on the Knit, Pray, Share Facebook page or Instagram using the hashtag #KnitPrayShare. Be sure to attach a tag to whatever gift you make.