Inner Beauty

First Published October 11, 2017

                                               

Galatians 5:22-23(NKJV)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  Against such there is no law.

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Recently a dear lady was laid to rest after a short, but very intense bout with cancer.  The ceremony was beautiful with hundreds gathered, mourning the loss of Susie. Several multi-story windows in the church allowed us to gaze into the blue sky with mingling billowing clouds, and an occasional soaring bird. Truly it seemed like a heaven-sent picture.

Later on during her Celebration of Life gathering, friends and family lined up to say a few words about the life of beloved Susie; a life characterized by her dedication to her husband and children, her community and charity work, and her hobbies.  One common thread emerged: Susie exuded inner beauty unlike many had ever encountered in a person.  She was kind, good-natured, joyous, …the very list of the Fruit of the Spirit.

No one disagreed. She was remarkable and the loss was so painful.  But what I didn’t see in the nearly 33 years that I knew her was that there were two main things that contributed to her inner beauty. The first thing was a given: her faith in God and Jesus Christ. Only by Heaven’s Grace could she pray for others, help others, be compassionate for others, accept others, and be joyous through tough times.

Secondly, Susie’s Fruit did not appear from feeding on the mishaps of others, but rather that fruit sought to plant seeds, to allow all that knew her to continue to grow in love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. And this is what I learned from her absence. By His Grace I entered into faith, and by my life I can grow in spiritual maturity, planting the seeds from the Fruit of the Spirit.  That’s Inner Beauty.

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Dear Lord, Thank you for the moments that I had with Susie and the lessons of faith reignited in my heart.  I pray that my life will grow in the Spirit and that others will see you as the seeds of that fruit nature.  In Jesus’ name, amen.