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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”

‭‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭22‬-‭23‬ ‭KJV‬‬"

Good one, Daniel -

It's sad to read stories like the one you related.

For some reason, I've always found the order that the fruit is laid out in Galatians 5 interesting.

Each one builds/is dependent upon exercising the ones before it. Without Love, we cannot have real joy. No joy = no peace. If we don't have peace, it's will be near impossible to be longsuffering. Longsuffering produces gentlleness. When we truly have a gentle spirit, we can do good. Our goodness relies on faith in the Grace of God. When we exercise faith, we can act with meekness. When we are truly meek, we are satisfied with the life God has been producing in us, therefore we can exercise temperance (be content with such things as we have). Nothing in God's Word is taken for granted, not even the order in which it was written. Amazing.

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Thank you for sharing this rich reflection on the fruit of the spirit. LORD, help us live it.

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Man, Chick-fil-A is intense in the south.

Also, aca-excuse me? You're going to Mass now? Since when?

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Haha I’ve been in the back of many chick-fil-a’s because of my job and I’ll just say I’ve seen some things 😐 and we’ve attend Mass twice now and legitimately did love it. I’m still in a place of discernment but cannot deny it’s been lovely. I plan on writing a little something about it soon.

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That's great! Looking forward to reading it.

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"May we practice gentleness both in words and in action with our fellow image-bearers, being kind in our interactions. Be good and live with goodness, doing your best to do good for others in the name of the Lord..." A worthy endeavor. Good stuff Daniel.

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Daniel - I just found your newsletter as a recommended page on my Substack homepage, and I'm so glad I did! I love your focus here on not ranting and pointing the finger at others but instead reflecting on where we have been unloving and where we need to rely on the Spirit. Excited to follow along as you continue your digital detox!

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Thank you for reading! I’m glad this struck a chord with you. It would have been easy to rant and believe me, I had a good rant going in my head the first time I heard the story. But I’m in no place to judge. I have distinct memories of myself being a very poor ambassador for Christ and while I have repented and have been forgiven, I nonetheless remember my own imperfections.

Also, thank you for subscribing and giving me the opportunity to reach your inbox! I will do my best to never disappoint you as a reader.

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