Deacons living the “Fruit of the Spirit”(Love, Joy and Peace)

The fruit of the Spirit is the work of the Holy Spirit that abides in us. As Deacons, one of the greatest virtue to being a servant of God is LOVE.  Jesus said, “The greatest of these is love.”(I Cor. 13:13) If we say we know Jesus, if we say we love Jesus, then our lives ought to imitate Jesus. It’s the love of God that compels us (2 Cor. 5:14) to love sacrificially and to serve others. It is out of God’s great love that He sent His only begotten son to the cross on Calvary. We are saved out of His love and through His love; God placed us into His service.

JOY is something that you experience in the later rather than the before. When we serve God and serve others out of the heart of LOVE, it will bring great JOY! If your Spirit is weak, Nehemiah 8:10 says, “the JOY of the Lord is our strength.” In other words, Nehemiah is saying that service brings JOY and JOY brings strength.

Fellow Deacons, it is inevitable to live a life of PEACE.  We all know there are days that outweighs your peace, but John 14:27 reminds us that, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you…”God’s PEACE says that He will keep us in perfect peace when we keep our minds stayed on Him. This PEACE will guard our hearts and our mind in Christ Jesus. If we are to be effective servants of God, PEACE should always take priority over conflict. Everyone wins when you choose PEACE.

Serving the Lord with gladness,

Deacon Terri McFarlane