Mar 29 Christians and Canines

Mar 29

Christians and Canines

Ga 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is

love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,

23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 Our verse for today is a familiar one. Most Christians become aware of this list early in their Christian experience. It takes most of us a long time to perfect this fruit in our lives. Some Christians never get all nine of them. I know some Christians who struggle to be joyous, others are not longsuffering, some are bitter, others angry, and a few Christians I have known were just plain cantankerous.

I thought it might be good for us to review these parts of the fruit of the spirit. Notice the verse does not say these are fruits of the spirit but “fruit” (singular) that is made up of nine qualities. Does that mean we need all nine to have the fruit of the spirit?  It sort of sounds that way to me. It seems like most of the lessons in scripture are pass-fail tests, instead of graded on a scale. Just think if God sent you a report card on these nine fruits. “Love ….. D+, Joy….B-,  Faith….B+,  Meekness ….E!”  Ouch!   Just thinking about getting a fruit of the Spirit report card makes me nervous.

These nine qualities are difficult to achieve in a world that is often described as a “Rat Race”. The bad thing about a rat race is the winners are still rats. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could have some examples of these qualities, so we could see them in action and learn how to perfect them in our Christian conduct. Fortunately, God in His wisdom, has provided a source for us to see these qualities in action. Where can you find them?  Just watch how dogs behave.

Please do not be offended but dogs may have more of these qualities than most Christians. The title for this devotional was almost “Is your Dog a better Christian than you are?”  But it was too long and probably offensive to some.

Love! A soldier was returned home for burial. His casket was at the front of the church. During the service, his loving dog laid quietly on the floor under his casket. You may not have seen this picture but probably know of a similar display of love by a dog for his missing master. May I ask if your love for Christ is equal to the love of a dog for a missing master? 

Heb 13:1 ¶ Let brotherly love continue.

Joy!  What better example of joy than when a dog runs out to greet it’s master after some absence. The TV ads that show a dog running out to greet a returning soldier pictures absolute joy.  When is the last time you felt that kind of joy?

1Pe 1:8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,

 though now ye see him not, yet believing,

ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

 Peace.  We have all seen a dog laying out in the sun, sleeping peacefully. We have also seen dogs sleeping in some very odd places and funny positions. But they all look peaceful. Even when awake a dog lying next to his masters chair looks pretty peaceful to me. Do we know anything of that kind of peace?

2Pe 1:2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you

through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord

Longsuffering. Oh my. The marvelous pictures of a big ole dog lying perfectly still while a baby pulls on its ears is the picture of longsuffering. Now, how is your longsuffering when daily life starts to “pull on your ears?”

Gentleness and Goodness. OK sometimes you have a naughty dog, but you see the goodness in a dog shine when they are around children. Their gentleness is amazing. Somehow dogs just have a sense of how to be gentle and display goodness with little kids. It is a delightful thing to watch.

Faith. You can probably recall stories of the faithfulness of a dog. They don’t even have to be famous and named Lassie to save Timmy from the well!

OK Dogs may not be the best examples of meekness and temperance. You might have to wait for a thunderstorm to see their meekness as they hide under the bed from the lightning flashes.

By now I think you can see that a dog may have a better grasp of the fruit of the Spirit than many Christians. I know I would have to work a lot more to have their dedication, love, joy, peace, longsuffering, etc.  And we haven’t even touched on how dogs do not hold grudges, are forgiving, want to serve others, have unrestrained enthusiasm, and on the other side do not sit on their hands when confronted with evil doers. They speak up.

The next time you see a dog exhibiting one of the qualities that make up the fruit of the Spirit, you may want to ask yourself, “Is that dog a better Christian than I am”? 

This fun approach to the fruit of the Spirit should help remind us that we really do not need to mimic dogs. Our goal is to follow the great example of Christ.

1Pe 2:21 …because Christ also suffered for us,

leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: