Thanksgiving: The Fruit of the Spirit
Thanksgiving is just a few day away. I always love the Thanksgiving Holiday. I have some long-standing traditions every Thanksgiving. On the day before Thanksgiving our congregation hosts a Thanksgiving Dinner for those who have no families to share a celebratory dinner with.
On Thanksgiving day, of course, I have to watch “The March of the Wooden Soldiers” followed by the Macy’s parade. A magnificent dinner with family and friends follows that and what follows is great time of socializing with those I care about most. Perhaps, amid the socializing, I will get to watch a little football also.
What are your traditions? Do you celebrate dinner with the family followed by a few football games? Do you look forward to watching the Westminster Dog Show after dinner and begin watching Hallmark Christmas movies?
No matter what your traditions are for this holiday, I hope and pray that at your Thanksgiving table, and after the table is cleared, that you will not just eat the fruits of your feast but also take on the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Not everyone knows what these are so here are a list of them. I hope that you will pray to receive this fruit and will begin to practice them each and every day.
Love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, patience, gentleness and self-control.
It is good that we have Thanksgiving to celebrate the prosperity that God gives to us. Better than physical wealth and prosperity is the gift that God gives us with the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Such fruit gives us a Spiritual resilience that can carry us through the most difficult at times and can even improve our relationships with others. Which is better to have wealth but poor relationships or great relationships and more modest material blessings? I think that better relationships are far better than wealth.
As we are on the verge of Advent, Christmas, and the new year, I ask that we all pray for the fruit of the spirit and exercising that fruit. Such practices will go a long way to giving us a blessed holiday season and a peace-filled new year. A full Thanksgiving table is wonderful but a soul filled with the Spirit fruit is even better.
