Soul Care to Save Your LifeSample

I grew up spending the summers at a lake. One summer my mom and stepdad surprised my stepsisters and me by purchasing a Jet Ski. I loved it. It’s fun driving a Jet Ski and zipping around on choppy waters—but it’s not always fun being the person on the back of it. It’s even worse when you’re tubing and being tossed around as you follow in the Jet Ski’s chaotic wake.

Like a Jet Ski on water, we leave a wake behind us. The question we should be asking to know what we leave in our wake is simple but requires great vulnerability. What’s it like to be on the other side of me?

It takes a lot of courage to ask that question. If we aren’t happy with the answers we come up with, it’s an indication that our souls aren’t being cared for. I’ve said it several times already, but nothing matters more than the condition of our souls. If your faith isn’t producing the fruit of the Spirit in your life, pay attention. If spending time in prayer, going to church, and reading your Bible aren’t softening your heart and leading you to live a life that looks more like Jesus’s, something’s amiss.

It’s vital to count the fruit so we are able to take inventory of the people we surround ourselves with, cut out toxic ones, and create boundaries as needed. If we aren’t seeing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we ought to take a good look at the following: Which seeds have been planted, who’s watering them, how’s the water, and how often are we getting sunlight? How are the seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control being planted in us each day?

Seeds don’t just magically appear; they are gathered and planted by a set of hands. When it comes to the fruit of the Spirit, we don’t get what we don’t seek. Nothing will ever be able to water your soil the way the Word of God does. Fruit also needs light and warmth to stay alive. If you once experienced a fruit of the Spirit flowing out of you but now it’s dwindling (ahem, patience, for me!), then it’s time for confession, where everything is brought into the light.

What wake do you leave behind? Do you spend energy modifying your behavior instead of seeking real transformation? Which fruit of the Spirit would people say they experience from you most?