What Are We Really Looking For (Part 1)

Whether we realize it or not, all of us are looking for something. There’s something we want or are trying to accomplish. We may not even know what it is, but it is still out there and we feel a void in our lives without it.

Some people will stop reading now. We don’t like to look within ourselves and think about our wants and needs. We can quickly become defensive, trying to explain to others why we do what we do, and that we’re just fine without changing. Yet, the hole is still there. Things are left undone and needed.

The things most needed in life tend to be love, joy, and peace. Although these wear a lot of different names, I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t want these to one degree or another. The problem is not in knowing what they are, but in knowing how and where to get them.

Fruit of the Spirit

Love, joy, and peace do not occur naturally. Some people wait around for them to come into their lives and become terribly disappointed. Some blame God when things of the world don’t bring lasting fulfillment. But here’s the problem:

“And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” – 1 John 2:17

True and lasting love, joy, and peace are not produced by the world. However, these are the first three of what the Bible calls “fruit of the Spirit” (Galatians 5:22). Fruit is something produced by God’s Spirit. but it isn’t automatic. Galatians chapter five contrasts walking in the Spirit and fulfilling the lust of the flesh. These are decisions and actions. Will we follow and allow God’s Spirit to work in us and in our lives, or will we choose the ways of the world? Only one of them produces true love, joy, and peace.

So, the problem lies in looking for love, joy, and peace in all the wrong places. We know people who have these but have virtually nothing physically. We know people who are sick but still have these. We have known people who knew they were dying, yet they have love, joy, and peace. And we also know people who don’t have any of these problems but still don’t have love, joy, and peace in their lives. What’s the difference? Finding real and lasting love, joy, and peace is inseparably tied to God. Because God isn’t physical, the answer isn’t physical – in fact, it transcends the physical.

So, let’s talk about God, Who is Spirit, and how that helps us next week.  dd