Interior Decorator #1
| But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians5:22-23) |
Let's play with an analogy where the house is our lives, the house-guests are the influences in our lives and the decor consists of the values we adopt...
In Galatians 5 Paul paints the contrasting pictures of those who live by the flesh and those who live by the Holy Spirit. It seems that, when we let certain house-guests advise our decor choices, the flashy stuff soon turns out to be junk, the shiny furniture is not all that comfortable to sit on and the modern equipment like the stove is prone to breaking and tripping out the whole house. (See the fruit of the flesh in vs.19-20)
In contrast, when we allow the Holy Spirit to do the interior decorating, the theme is warm and solid, the furniture is comfy, and the stove, although a little old-fashioned is reliable.
We may try to decorate in our own strength, being advised by house-guests who don't really care about us. But we must recognise that the decorations Paul describes in the verse above are original pieces: they cannot be imitated. We can only have them if we allow the Lord to live in our lives. He is the house-guest who brings the very best out in us.
Let's do a decor check:
- What's the ambience of your life like?
- What is it like for those who live in your space?
- What is their experience of you?
So what is our job?
Evict the guests that bring out the worst in us,
and make room for the One who will decorate our homes beautifully.
