A Measure – Devotion 72

We are good at assigning measurements to our progress.  How many did you make?  How much did you accomplish?  What was the quantity of your work?  How can you add one more?  How many attended?  How many responded?  These are all measurements we give to take note of success.  We want to know if we are doing a good job.  Those around want to measure themselves against others progress.  It can become a competition.  The focus of accomplishment can become our sole focus.

And then there is the Christian faith.  Many have the desire to measure progress there as well.  How many verses did I read today?  How much time did I spend in prayer?  How many good deeds were done?  How many times did I share how good God has been?  How many rewards have I received?  It becomes an effort of accomplishment.  We somehow find measurement a way to detect progress.

What about the things that cannot be measured?  What about the outcomes that we do not see?  What keeps us motivated to work towards things which are not attainable?  What about the commands that do not see earthly reward?  What do we do when the things which we are taught are not measurable?  What if the things that really mattered can’t be checked off?

I think we change how we measure.  Maybe we check to see how we are following Christ.  Maybe we spend time reading and hearing all that Jesus taught so that we can have a real guide.  Maybe we look at the fruit of the Spirit – the Spirit that should be living in us.  If we are following Christ, this fruit should be evident.  We should not have to check it off of a box – it should be a natural result of following God.  How are we producing these beautiful fruit?  How is Christ working in us as this fruit naturally blooms?  Do we produce love, peace, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, patience, generosity?  Is this what we are producing?  If not, we may want to go back to the Source.  We do not need to measure by the world’s standards.  Christ has already given us all we need to produce a beautiful crop for his glory.

Focus Scripture:

Galatians 5:22-23

²² By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.

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