Simple Practices

The church and her people are imperfect. One of the first things the Holy Spirit impresses upon us as we move toward salvation is that we are unrighteous. We are unholy, but we find hope in the holiness of Christ. His grace gives us the motivation to do the things that will honor him instead of dishonoring him. In the movie A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (directed by Marielle Heller [TriStar Pictures, 2019]), Joanne Rogers tells a writer who is working on a magazine profile that Fred is not perfect but that he chooses his responses wisely and practices things like prayer, Bible reading, writing letters, and exercise that help him stay grounded in a challenging world (https://www.wingclips.com/movie-clips/a-beautiful-day-in-the-neighborhood/married-to-a-saint). We too must practice following Jesus, in a community of faith, every day! Simple disciplines keep us rooted in faith so that we can follow Jesus instead of living as a hypocrite, and producing the fruit of the Spirit rather than the fruit of unhealth.