The Right Way to Live…
As I was reading my devotion this morning, I came across this scripture:
20Always give thanks to Father God for every person he brings into your life in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5:20 (TPT)
There are times that a different translation puts an entirely different slant on a familiar verse. In this case what stuck out to me were the words, giving thanks for “every person he brings into your life”.
I confess there are some people who have come into my life that I have not given thanks for. In fact I wished that they were as far as the east from the west. I’m sure you know the type, difficult to deal with- sometimes even bordering on hateful. Yet this scripture tells us that we are to give thanks for “every person” – and II think that means “every person”.
How different life would be if we could see every person and every event as somehow being something that if God did not orchestrate it, it is something that can be used for our good. When other versions of Ephesians 5:20 says to give thanks for “everything” , that goes beyond people, it extends to just what it says, “everything”!
We cannot always control the circumstances of our life, but we can control our reactions to those circumstances. Remembering that out of the Holy Spirit comes fruit – fruit that can take us through every and all of life’s circumstances:
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Galatians 5:22 (NLT)
Allowing the fruit to grow on the vine in our lives enables us to not only withstand the tests of this life, but to thrive – we become a fruit salad for this world and for us!
Maria