GRACE part 2

In Galatians 5:22 lists the fruits of the Spirit as 1) love, 2) joy 3) peace, 4) patience, 5) kindness, 6) goodness, 7) faithfulness, 8) gentleness and 9) self-control.  In trying to memorize these, I thought 9 was such an odd number. I can’t think of another time that 9 was a “thing” in the Bible.  There are 12 Disciples, 7 comes up a lot, 3 also, even 40 comes up both in the old and new testaments…but 9? I thought that 10 would have been a better number to work with and I wonder if the illustrious and ever so outspoken Paul had actually written 10 but one was left out of the cannon.  If there WERE 10 what would that last one have been?

MY projection, coming from Paul, is that the 10th fruit of the Spirit might have been “swift kick in the arse.”  Yep. You heard it here first. With our loved ones, with EVERYONE, truly, we are to act in a manner separate from this world.  We are to act according to the Spirit. We are to offer ALL these 9 things to those around us–and if we are becoming a doormat instead of a covering we are to offer that #10— give them a swift kick and start the routine over.   Like this, love on them, be patient with and kind to them, be faithful that things will be ok, treat them with gentleness and exhibit self-control NOT to reciprocate with wrong. Things not ok? Give them a kick and then love on them some more, be patient and kind to them etc etc…

Perhaps.

But, do you have a bruise? A black eye? Has your bank account been emptied out do the actions of another?  Are your friends telling you that you look worse for the wear-that you are either gaining weight or losing too much weight.  Are you stressed and unfocused, losing your hair, chewing at your fingernails–do the the repeated actions of another? If so, you have crossed the line and you are being a doormat.  It’s time for that swift kick.

The sins listed in Galatians are first listed as “obvious.”  In case you don’t know Paul, he’s pretty blunt about things.  He doesn’t often sugar coat the message he has to deliver. So even here, he explicitly states “it’s OBVIOUS what the sins are.” Specifically though, sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness and orgies.  

But I THINK I figured something out.  How do we cross that line from grace to doormat?  The more I process it the simpler it seems. It has to do with exactly what is being covered over.  Is it A sin, A wrong, A misstep?  I mean were you stood up ONCE, lied to ONCE, cheated on ONCE…or does the offending party have an addiction to this behavior?  Is the offender prone to a certain unacceptable behavior? Because if its an ADDICTION, way of life or prone to behavior then THAT is what needs to be addressed and changed.  NOT the offensive act itself but the fact that they are prone to a certain behavior. If the offender is unenlightened and repeatedly engages in fits of rage, verbal abuse etc…then they need to change and become more enlightened or be retrained (or TRAINED!).  They need to learn to exercise the brain to end the fight-or-flight responses and train it to push their reactions up higher into the thinking brain. That might take counseling. They might not go to counseling without you first bestowing that 10th fruit of the spirit upon them.  If they respond to the kick–then offer grace while the change is happening. But it is wrong to think that we are offering grace for an addiction or ingrained behavior-because the repeated acts are then NOT really the issue and THAT is what victims might be looking at–the wrong thing.   

Paul, the author of so many books in the Bible, is a supreme example of it being possible for a person to change.  Paul was a genocidal maniac, really. He repented and really changed his entire behavior and thought process. So it IS possible.  Many people had to offer him grace. But he CHANGED.

Is there someone that YOU have seen change?  Do you know someone who NEEDS to change? What kind of ‘swift kicks in the arse’ have you bestowed on someone else?  What was the result?