I THOUGHT I WAS THROUGH WITH REPORT CARDS!

Often I use the “fruit of the Spirit” as a report card for my life. In the car, in the still of the night, whenever it comes to mind, I spend some time going through the list, appraising myself honestly. It would serve no purpose to inflate the truth. The results are kept between me and the Lord, and He “desires truth in the inward parts.”

This self evaluation system is safe and includes no accompanying “psycho babble.” Plain and simple, I think about the list, one item at a time, ask myself how I think I am doing before others and before God. It is remarkable how this little purposed act meant to aid me in my desire to be more like Jesus has made the Christian walk more like “three steps forward, one step back.”

A key ingredient in the “success” of these mini-sessions is coming to a correct and understandable meaning for each characteristic listed. As in school a report card reflects how a student is fairing stacked up against the rules and curriculum, so it is imperative that my assessment of my life is “stacked up” against what was the true meaning and implication of each word.

Through the years, tremendous amounts of data have entered my heart and mind in the way of sermons and lessons and books read and above all, through the reading and studying of God’s Word. I hesitate to add experience to that list, but it is true that God has thrust definitions deep into my heart as a result of happenings in my life.

So, when I consider the first word on the list, “love,” my life stands before a backdrop of Scripture and awesome conference messages and faithful Sunday School lessons…and verses such as, “if a man does not love his brother, how can he love God,” and “hereby we know that we are in Him if we have love one for another,” and “little children, let us not love in word and in tongue but in deed and in truth.” I think about my love for those closest to me, for my close-by fellow Christians and for those suffering in a way I probably never will.

Wanting to be a loving person is half the battle. We used to sing a wonderful hymn which started out, “I have one deep supreme desire, that I may be like Jesus.” I forgot to add hymns and choruses as part of the measuring stick. That hymn burrowed deep into my heart. Oh, how I wanted to be like Jesus! Do you want to be like Christ? Is “loving” high on your priority list? Do you really want to be filled with the Spirit? And what about the rest of the list?

Much will be written about the item listed as the “fruit of the Spirit.” Bound up in the two short verses is a key to “successful” Christian living.

Take a quality ten minutes or so to fill in your report card. Do it often. Be open and honest. No one else will see it. Your parents won’t have to sign it. It’s between you and your loving Heavenly Father.