This Sunday in worship, we read the last part of Paul’s discussion about the fruit of the Spirit from The Message translation of the Bible. Here it is below:

“Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.”

Unnecessary comparisons seem to be increasingly amplified in our times (even through casual use of social media and group gatherings), but Paul reminds us that our life in the Spirit is not measured against each other – “Each of us is an original.” Prayer is a wonderful place to begin celebrating your unique and original experience in the life of the Spirit. We often pray for things to change in prayer, but in this instance, the Spirit calls us to embrace what we have in front of us – continuing to unleash the Spirit-powered life offered through God.

In recovery programs, the “serenity prayer” is often used to jump start this kind of contemplation in our lives. It’s a short prayer that can be used throughout your day to anchor you back to your identity in God. If you haven't yet incorporated this into your prayer habit, give it a try today.

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.”