Sabbath Devotional :: Fruits of the Spirit
Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
“Wo unto them that call evil good, and good evil, that put darkness for light, and light for darkness, that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! . . . Who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!” (2 Nephi 15:20, 23)
A speaker recently quoted that passage in my sacrament meeting. I started contemplating how we often extol bad behaviors if we believe it makes us or “our side” achieve something desirable and I was drawn to these verses in Galatians:
“Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; . . . Idolatry, . . . hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, . . . and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: . . .
“If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” (Galatians 5:19-26)
Obviously, I didn’t include all the sins listed in Galatians. The reason is simply that I wanted to draw attention to certain ones. Even though I know the meanings of these words, I found it interesting to look up definitions.
Works of the flesh:
Idolatry: extreme admiration, love, or reverence for something or someone
Hatred: intense dislike or ill will
Variance: the state or fact of disagreeing or quarreling
Emulations: effort to match or surpass a person or achievement, typically by imitation
Wrath: extreme anger
Strife: angry or bitter disagreement over fundamental issues
Seditions: conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state
Envyings: desire to have a quality, possession, or other attribute belonging to someone else
Do we ever call these evil things good? Do we look at good and call it bad — or weak?
Again, the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, longsuffering (showing patience in spite of troubles, especially those caused by other people), gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness (mild and humble), temperance (moderation).
After listing these qualities, Paul simply says, “If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” A succinct reminder to live what we claim to believe.
Reading Isaiah and Galatians together is a call for introspection, to consider what traits we personally admire and what traits we see as good and evil.
In Christianity, the end does not justify the means. The means are the purpose of this life. How we get where we want to go matters as much as where we are going. The way we journey along the path gives us opportunity to become true disciples of Christ.
American politics can be a vicious game and it can be tempting to want to reward someone who appears tough enough for the fight. It can also be tempting to utilize the “works of the flesh” because we believe the end goal is so important and we can’t see another way.
But there is another way. It’s the way of the peacemaker, the way of the humble follower of Christ. Mormon spoke to the “peaceable followers of Christ.” He knew they were following Christ and had hope in the Lord “because of [their] peaceable walk with the children of men.” (Moroni 7:3-4)
Even as I live in a contentious world, I want to be found among the peaceable followers of Christ.
Megan Rawlins Woods is senior director of the nonpartisan root at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
