EXPRESSIONS

I had to laugh this morning as I bent over to put my socks on and couldn’t help but notice my typical summer look of a dark tan on my legs… down to the definitive line that marks the top of my ankle socks… and the EXTREMELY white feet below!  It is pretty obvious that I don’t walk around much in my bare feet… and now would be embarrassed to do so!

But no matter how white my feet may have looked… they always tended to have more of a tan than Piper normally achieved during the summer!  You see, Piper had redheads on her dad’s side of the family and even though neither she nor her sister got the red hair gene (No pun intended as her dad’s name was Gene…), they both had the light skin normally associated with redheads, although while I remember her sister burning on our family vacations on the coast, Piper hardly ever burned and actually could retain a bit of a tan.

I do recall though, when Piper would come to bed on a warm night wearing one of her many short summer nighties and contemplating of how white her skin looked above the slight tan mark from the shorts she wore during the day.  It was not only strikingly different from my darker Italian skin tones but with her, I always tended to allude to it as a mark of purity.  She was just that kind of gal!

Thinking of her “ruddy” as the Bible puts it, or reddish complexion and light skin tones, also reminded me of a couple of descriptions of King David when he was young, during Old Testament times.  When the Prophet Samuel first set eyes on the lad*, he wrote,

“And he sent (Jesse, David’s father) and brought him (David) in. And he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and good form. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him. For this is he.” (MKJV)

A little while later, after being anointed but not yet having ascended the throne, David faced the giant of the Philistine army named Goliath, in a battle to the death.  And to put it lightly, the literal giant among men** was not impressed by what he saw.  It is recorded:

“And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.”  (KJV) 

David’s physical looks and stature did nothing to establish any confidence in them with either Samuel or Goliath!  But both of them quickly learned a lesson in the true strength and stature of a person.  God had to inform the Prophet that “the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”  And as for Goliath… well let’s just say that he learned the hard way when David annihilated him with his own sword in front of both armies! 

As part of our calling into “the fellowship of Jesus,”*** we Christians are meant to live our lives above and/or apart from the rest of the world.  But according to what Samuel and Goliath learned, that is not necessarily dependent upon one’s physical stature or social standing.  According to the Apostle Paul, it simple means to display the expressions or “fruit” of our faith in everything we think, say and do.  He told the Galatian church that,

“The fruit produced by the Holy Spirit within you is divine LOVE in all its varied expressions: joy that overflows, peace that subdues, patience that endures, kindness in action, a life full of goodness, faith that prevails, gentleness of heart, and self-control. Never set the law above these qualities, for they are meant to be limitless.”   (TPT/God’s Word ©)

I really like the way that The Passion Translation separates out LOVE and describes the other eight fruits as “the various expressions” of LOVE.  The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains that LOVE “stands first, not as distinct from, but as INCLUDING all the rest.”  And that makes perfect sense since I John 4:8,16 tells us that “God is LOVE”.**** Therefore, the various fruit of the Spirit are simply specific characteristics of His LOVE expressed through you and me in the different situations we face in our daily lives.

So… It doesn’t matter!  You may be a “tall, dark and handsome Italian” like Piper once described me to another family member (Note:  He! He! Piper didn’t wear her glasses a lot in school when we hung out together and her contacts made her eyes really sensitive to glare… so who knows what she really saw when she looked at me!) or you might be small with a ruddy complexion and freckles like Piper (I bet that David also had freckles!)- as a Christian what matters most, is what’s on the inside… and how the fruit of God’s character are expressed through us.

Many people in the church would comment about Piper over the years, saying that while “she might have been small on the outside… she was a GIANT on the inside!”  AND that’s the Piper that most people saw and loved!

What about you?  What do people think and say about you?  Hopefully they are always blessed and thankful for your expressions of the FRUIT of God’s Spirit emanating from you!  We’ll take a deeper look into the various EXPRESIONS or FRUIT in our next few blogs… so keep in tune!  But in the meantime,

Have a great week, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING God’s Best while you continue to EXPRESS HIS CHARACTERISITICS in your daily lives!

 

*Most commentators say that David was between 10–15 years old.  See: the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary.

**Goliath was said to be approximately 9'6" tall How tall was Goliath? | GotQuestions.org

***For review, see: 1 Corinthians 1:9 as well as our last six blog posts written around this verse-

****KJV