Nailed it or Failed it?

There is a Native American proverb called “Two Wolves”.  The Cherokee story is below and reads:

THE TWO WOLVES

A CHEROKEE STORY

A young boy came to his Grandfather, filled with anger at another boy who had done him an injustice. The old Grandfather said to his grandson, "Let me tell you a story. I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and hate does not hurt your enemy. Hate is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times."

"It is as if there are two wolves inside me; one wolf is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offence when no offence was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf, is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper."

"He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger, because his anger will change nothing. Sometimes it is

hard to live with these two wolves inside me, because both of the wolves try to dominate my spirit."

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather's eyes and asked, "Which wolf will win, Grandfather?" The Grandfather smiled and said, "The one I feed."

May I ask, “What are you feeding?” Have you taken the time to examine what you are feeding your spirit? These are questions I will ask myself, as well.  I believe most of us like fruits.  We have apples, bananas, oranges, grapes, and more. Each fruit has its own set of vitamins and minerals, they are not the same. We learned that oranges have vitamin C, and bananas full of potassium, you can research what the other fruits offer to nourish your body, but now I want to address the fruit of the Spirt that nourishes our spirit.

The fruit of the Spirit is what we should be feeding on in our spiritual lives. Trust me God will show you what you are not feeding, and you will know which part of the fruit of the Spirit you need to feed.  Each part of the fruit of the Spirit is not the same, similar to natural fruits.  According to Galatians 5:22-25, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

When God brings the tests of life to see how your walk is and not your talk, He most often deals with one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit.  If you step back and think about any situation when you believe the “heat was turned up” or something triggered you and stole your peace, you most likely could pinpoint which fruit of the Spirit God was working in and through you by your response.  You might guess that you need to feed the fruit of the Spirit called peace.  Maybe there was a time you felt when you took as the saying goes, “one step forward and three steps back”, perhaps that was a test of your longsuffering or perseverance, or maybe you have been praying and believing for God to do something miraculous and it hasn’t happened yet.  Could it be that God was testing your faithfulness?

What impurity flows or pops up when the heat is up?  Although you might find your response or action as not good, look at it differently.  God is showing you that this is an opportunity to make a change.  Turn to God and repent because we have a forgiving God. Thank you, Jesus!  Do not wallow in your sorrow, repent, and ask God’s Holy Spirit to help you to walk in the spirit, so you do not gratify the flesh.

So when the test comes around, it will come again because God wants to see if you got it.  After the test, you want to say, “nailed it”.  However, if the outcome is not favorable and you say, “failed it”, do not beat yourself up, instead run into the loving arms of the Father and ask for forgiveness; knowing it’s a time to grow and do better the next time.  It is all in your perspective of recognizing that this is all in God’s preparation to make and mold you. Also, this is a time to realize that you must take an active part that is a willingness to feed on the fruit of the Spirit.

One might ask, how do we feed on the fruit of the Spirit?  We do this by meditating on His word (Joshua 1:8), studying the word of God (2 Timothy 2:15), speaking and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19), praising and worshiping the Lord (Psalm 66:4), abiding in Jesus (John 15:4), and putting on the whole armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).

If God is working on your fruit, just know He is not through with you yet.  As the psalmist says, “When God Gets through with me I shall come forth as pure gold…”

Again, I ask, what are you feeding?

Seasons Change - Spring 2024