I bought a cup of Starbucks coffee at gate C41 on May 2nd at Toronto Pearson, (or was it Calgary?), anyway, I love it when God confirms what you feel (know in your spirit)!
In God's Kingdom, true spiritual leadership has to function a certain way to produce good fruit. Those same Kingdom principles for leadership will also produce good fruit in the natural. When my sister was a retail store manager of a Canadian flagship cosmetics giant in Vancouver she employed these principles. Needless to say the fruit was very, very good, she was granted much favor with both employees and employer. Her superiors were enthralled and curious about her leadership style.
Here's the quote that sums it up:
The Way I See It #284
"You can't lead the people, if you don't love the people. You can't save the people, if you don't serve the people."
Cornel West
Professor
Some may argue this and give numerous examples proving otherwise, but I re-iterate: true spiritual leadership in God's Kingdom is the only form of leadership that produces good fruit. I am not talking about temporary natural success (and yes, it will be temporary). I am talking about good fruit. Good fruit can be identified (but not limited to) the following (Galatians 5:22-23):
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self Control
As a contrast, the following fruit will appear when any other form of leadership exists (Galatians 5:16-21):
Sexual immorality
Impurity
Debauchery
Idolatry
Witchcraft (rebellion)
Hatred
Discord
Jealousy
Fits of rage
Selfish ambition
Dissensions
Factions
Envy
Drunkenness
Orgies and the like
We can judge fruit to discern spiritual condition. If I discern a bad fruit in my life I know that something is not right and I take it to the Lord and ask Him to cleanse me. Cleansing and change of heart is done by the Holy Spirit, but before that can happen we must choose to humble ourselves and repent. Grace comes through the blood of Christ and the blood of Christ is appropriated through repentance.
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2 comments:
What a great quote on a starbucks cup!I am enjoying reading your thoughts.
Many times in Christian circles we hear: "Don't judge"! But, we are actually called to judge, NOT the person though...but judge the fruit.
Great quote - some of those cups have incredible insight!
Leading, loving... serving... essential qualities - very costly... but also very rewarding!!
In the last part of your list is envy and jealous. These two words seem so closely related YET different. I'm currently doing a book group on Nuture by Lisa Bevere. She writes a bit on these two words. Her observation is jealousy is rooted in hatred... while envy is rooted in fear. Anyhow, it made for some interesting discussion.
Great post!
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