Doing Life Together

One of the things I particularly enjoy about lifegroup is the approach of "we're all here to learn and grow", not "we're coming to get preached at". Yesterday I had the blessing of leading the guys lifegroup, though not a trivial task. I prefer to think of it as 'facilitating' instead.

I planned to facilitate a conversation about Galations 5:16-26, which includes the fruit of the Spirit. Interestingly, it relates to the message at the very first CityWide I attended. The message there was that it isn't enough to just not do bad, but rather replace the bad with good. One example given was: "If I say don't think about pink elephants, what are you thinking about?". It doesn't work to say "I won't think about pink elephants", but instead thinking about blue elephants is much more effective.

This passage in Galations starts by giving a roadmap (hm, maybe my writing professors were onto something...) of life by the Spirit. It then proceeds to list acts of the sinful nature. Immediately following is "But the fruit of the Spirit is:". I'd say that's probably the 2nd biggest but in the Bible. It immediately follows the bad with the good, letting us know that our old sinful ways must be replaced.

As I read this passage at lifegroup, two of the guys were goofing off and I'm thinking "great, so much for a fruitful discussion". (Hence the difficulty in facilitating sometimes.) But God had a better plan. As always.

I opened up for discussion and while we didn't stay focused on the fruit of the Spirit, the conversation ended back up there after branching into several other areas. I was able to learn more about where each of the guys is Spiritually, too! It was also a nice reminder from God that it's not about what I can do, but rather what He can (and did) do with that conversation when I submit to Him. Praise God!