The Fruit of the Spirit

In the book of Galatians we read, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Today I failed, miserably, at demonstrating this fruit as I went through the day.

It all started by my not feeling well after working in the yard over the weekend. I never know if it is vertigo or my eyes or a combination of the two which causes me to have nausea. All to say, I didn’t feel well as I started the day.

When I arrived at work, someone in my area was out sick, which meant I would have more responsibilities and tasks for the day. Within minutes, someone made a mistake, which made me have to stop what I was doing and focus on resolving an issue that caused many others to be unable to do their jobs.

As I was resolving this issue and getting folks back up and running, someone decided to call me and tell me why they were not feeling well today. I placed them on hold. I did return to them, but not as quickly as a caring person might.

Then a person called to tell me that we had a piece of equipment not working. If this person worked full-time like I do, instead of part-time, they might know that this issue was already being addressed days ago. The phone landed on the receiver a little harder than I expected, but by this time, I really didn’t care.

After being at work for six hours, I finally had the opportunity to go to lunch. While I was at lunch, I looked down at my shirt and saw mustard on my shirt. I didn’t have mustard with my lunch and I have no clue where it came from.

As I was trying to get the mustard off my shirt with a detergent pen, I noticed something else on two other parts of my shirt. I had no clue what this could possibly be.

As I was driving home, someone decided that they should drive their motorcycle down the road at 20 miles per hour on a road intended for traffic at 55 miles per hour. Traffic quickly backed up. Eventually, others and I finally got the opportunity to pass. As I passed the motorcycle, I checked to make sure my horn was working well.

I arrived home to my lovely wife, who had cooked supper for us. After eating, I paid bills and realized that I had to get them to the post office so they would not be late.

I arrived back home realizing I had not written my article for the paper this week. So, I started searching the Scriptures and asking God to give me a message. He gave me Galatians 5.22. He reminded me I had blown my ability to witness for Him many times today.

I am glad God is a loving and forgiving God. I can only hope and pray that tomorrow, I do a better job.