The Band of Graces!

Yesterday was the fourth anniversary of my wife’s passing on to glory on September 2, 2018.  I had been thinking about the upcoming date toward the end of last week, but to be honest… I didn’t even think about it yesterday until our youngest daughter asked me how I was doing when I picked her and the grandkids up to go grocery shopping for their camping adventure this weekend.

We both took that as a positive sign as life without her has been slowly getting easier with the passing of time.  It is not like I don’t think of her though, because she is always on my mind, but the personal sadness and emptiness has been transitioning into smiles of joy as I think about her being home, with our heavenly Father in heaven!  I mean let’s face it.  I saw the tremendous damage that the Alzheimer’s did to her physical body for eight long years and to know that according to God’s Word she is now “holy happy and perfect in his presence.” (Ephesians 1:4/Psalm 16:11 God’s Word ©) …well, one can’t help but shout and rejoice for her good fortune! 

Piper was a very grace-full women.  She was the most spiritually sensitive individual that I have known and used her grace-full-ness to sweetly and practically apply the truth of God’s Word into her daily life, and in particular, into the situations that she was involved with… no matter where she was, be it in our home, at church, in the neighborhood, at the store or wherever she was at any given moment in time.

In speaking about the Fruit of the Spirit as stated in the Biblical book of Galatians,* the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary calls out LOVE and declares it to be “the leader of the band of Graces.”  And when I refer to my wife as being a very grace-full woman, these are the nine GRACES that I am declaring her to have been full of!

John Wesley in his “Notes on the Bible” (1754-1765) wrote that “LOVE is the root of all the rest” of the fruit of the Spirit, while the Popular New Testament Commentary declares that “LOVE (is) the fundamental Christian grace which comprehends all others and ‘holds heaven and earth in its embrace.’”  And then there is Adam Clarke who sort of wrapped it all up saying that LOVE is, “An intense desire to please God, and to do good to mankind; (Its) the very soul and spirit of all true religion; the fulfilling of the law, and what gives energy to faith itself”

After being with Piper for 48 years, I can honestly say that Clarke’s summarization of the root and/or foundation of the Fruit of the Spirit of LOVE, was the blazing fire that stirred deep in the heart of her.  It was the energy that led her to respond to just about everyone she ever met with a spontaneous attitude and heart of “JOY that overflows, PEACE that subdues, PATIENCE that endures, KINDNESS in action, a life full of GOODNESS, FAITH that prevails, GENTLENESS of heart and” an almost inconceivable ability of “SELF-CONTROL!” (Galatians 5:22-23 TPT)

I’m sure that all of us have seen or know of certain individuals who tend to be lacking when it comes to exercising the “Social Graces” in many of the different situations that we experience during our lifetimes.  I was never made more aware of this than when Piper got sick and I found myself at awe on many occasions when someone said something to me or about our situation that was totally out of place, ignorant of the facts or just plain hurtful… and most times they had NO idea of what they had said and just continued the conversation… completely oblivious to the bomb that they had dropped!

But you know?  If one continues to study about, grow in their understanding of and keep exercising the Fruit of the Spirit, they’ll never have to be concerned with saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time.  The band of GRACES of the Fruit of the Spirt will always lead you to perform the proper “SOCIAL GRACES” every time… And Piper was to me… and the many others who knew her… the living, breathing proof of that!

So… How do you know which FRUIT is the right one at any given time?  Well, that’s simple!  Just walk in LOVE and let His LOVE guide you!

Have a terrific holiday weekend, and as you do… Keep EXPECTING to walk in God’s LOVE, which is His BEST fruit for yourself and those around you!

 

*Galatians 5:22-23