Not So Smart

I've always wanted to be smart. Especially when I was in grade school. I remember wishing I was smart.  Seeing as how I longed to be smart, well, that just tells you what I thought I was...not so smart.  I truly remember the days when I was a child wishing I could be that kid that knew all the answers.  I wanted to be the one that would never be afraid of quizes or homework. I just wanted to be smart. 

I find that strange now because I don't remember ever putting any effort in making this come true for me. I guess I didn't realize it took any effort. I thought it came naturally. You were either smart or you weren't. As a matter of fact, I would do my homework while watching TV and that's if I did it at all.  I remember one week of school, I did not turn in any homework at all and I also failed to complete a lot of the daily work during class that week. I remember being shocked that I didn't get in trouble by my parents or my teachers. This actually paints a big picture of me if you read a little deeper. I'm that kid that took short cuts, feared for the worst but always seemed to get by. Gosh, that's terrible. I didn't realize until recently that being smart was not something you were or weren't but it was actually a result of something else - a result of being disciplined in study. You couldn't just wake up one morning and say, "I'm going to be smart today."

This takes me back to one of the lessons I love to teach and re-teach young people. Its called GIGO. GIGO is a computer term meaning "Garbage In Garbage Out."  The term refers to entering the wrong information in the computer and expecting the right information to come out of the computer. Somehow we think our computers can do the thinking for us and we should get the right information from it at all times. GIGO sets the record straight in that you will not get the right information out of the computer if you didn't put the right information in. Garbage in, garbage out.  I often tell youth that this goes along in our computer brains and lives as well. If we continue to put garbage in our minds (things we see, listen to and inact that are immoral), why are we so shocked when garbage comes out of our lives (like depression, anger, etc)? Wishing that the garbage doesn't come out of our lives is, well, excactly that, wishful thinking.  For garbage not to come out of our lives we need to stop putting the garbage in.

I also find it strange that when preachers and teachers talk about the fruit of the spirit found in Galations 5:22-23, which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentlness, faithfullness and self-control, they often teach it as though its something we should be doing. When in fact, the word fruit in this sense actually refers to result - the result of the spirit.  These 9 acts are not things that we should concentrate on doing but things that should automatically come out of our lives when we are filled with the Spirit of God. They are the results of being spirit-filled.

Just like when I "wished" I was smart, the fruit of the spirit character traits are not something that you can just wish for. You can't just decide that tomorrow you will be patient or kind.  I mean, will you really be patient or kind? Or will you try and fail at mid-day?

This fruit of the spirit are results of having the spirit of God in us. So instead of waking up and saying, "I will act with love today", wake up and ask for God's holy spirit in me so from that I will be loving today without fail.

These 9 character traits mentioned in Galations (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control) can not be accomplished absent God.  They are the results of God.

Take God in first, all that He is, merciful, forgiving, kind, loving, righteous, and everything else. Let Him be the one in you as you result in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control.  After all, that is smart thing to do.

"Anxiety in the heart of a man causes depression, but a good word makes it glad." (Pr. 12:25)