Copyright\u00a0 by Shea Oakley<\/p>\n
All rights reserved<\/p>\n
\u201cA tree cannot taste its own fruit.\u201d \u00a0-Wayne Scott Farley<\/p>\n
There are times in the Christian life when we are called to bless others whether we feel like it or not. Sometimes the actual giving of the blessing is enough to engage our feelings in a positive way; however other times we feel no better after giving of our self.<\/p>\n
Occasionally we may even feel worse.<\/p>\n
Nowhere in the Bible does God promise His children that doing good will always feel good. Perhaps the ultimate example is the cross of Christ itself. Jesus did not enjoy the cross; He endured it. Undoubtedly Jesus foresaw \u201cthe joy set before Him\u201d and this helped Him to bear the horrific experience of Good Friday, yet what He felt in the actual giving of Himself was unspeakable torment.<\/p>\n
Our own blessing of others often requires us to carry a cross. It may be the cross of helping someone we do not particularly like or it might be the cross of giving to others what we feel we do not have enough of ourselves. Sometimes we may wrongly fear that our motives are too mixed, so we do not allow ourselves<\/em> to know the joy of the blessing. Whatever the cross is we bear the result is that we do not take pleasure in giving what we give.<\/p>\n In more than one place the Bible refers to us as trees. A growing Christian is like a healthy tree whose branches produce much good fruit. If we are abiding in Christ then He is the motive power for our fruitfulness. In daily life this fruitfulness is largely manifested in how we physically, psychologically, or spiritually help others. Again, however, the Bible does not indicate that we will always get some kind of positive emotional charge out of this. We may indeed feel better after blessing others, but it is not something we can or should always count on. In fact to do a good deed purely for the chance to feel good renders the deed selfish. Such giving is not a true fruit of the Spirit.<\/p>\n In the end we must remember that some true giving<\/em> to those in need\u00a0may not feel good or even real. Self-judgment in this area is tricky because often we do not know ourselves well enough to come to an accurate conclusion about motives. Perhaps only our Lord can ultimately perceive if our fruit is authentic or false. At the very least only He can know all of the time. The bottom line is that, as Farley tells us, \u201cA tree cannot taste its own fruit.\u201d It may be that some of us will be in for a surprise when, after a lifetime of sometimes agonizing over whether our giving was sincere, we get to Heaven and receive a \u201cwell-done\u201d we did not think we deserved.<\/p>\n In that spirit let us remember what the Apostle Paul tells us in Galatians 6: 9-10:<\/p>\n \u201cLet us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Copyright\u00a0 by Shea Oakley All rights reserved \u201cA tree cannot taste its own fruit.\u201d \u00a0-Wayne Scott Farley There are times in the Christian life when we are called to bless others whether we feel like it or not. Sometimes the actual giving of the blessing is enough to engage our feelings in a positive way;… <\/p>\n