C. S. Lewis and the Fruit of the Spirit
Living in the Spirit is not about acts of grandeur or renown. It’s not about mission trips to Mexico or tax write-offs to your local church. It’s about living your ordinary life well.
I love reading C. S. Lewis because it feels like he understands living well. He takes the high philosophy to real life understanding. He doesn’t shy away from hard topics. Living through two world wars did not keep him from experiencing joy and hope.
Actually, living through the horror of war is part of what gives him such delight in the ordinary life lived well. Reading through the works of Lewis I see a man who truly desired to live accepting all that came his way.
Quotes from Lewis:
Love — Do not waste your time bothering wether you ‘love’ your neighbor. Act as if you do, and you will presently come to love them.
Joy — Joy is the serious business of heaven.
Peace — God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there.
Patience — It is not your business to succeed, but to do right; when you have done so, the rest lies with God.
Kindness — Our prayers for others flow more easily than those for ourselves. This shows we are made to live by charity.
Goodness — No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.
Faithfulness — Though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.
Gentleness — Courage, dear heart.
Self-control — You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
C. S Lewis and the Fruit of the Spirit.
Living in the Spirit is not about acts of grandeur or renown. It’s not about mission trips to Mexico or tax write-offs to your local church. It’s about living your ordinary life well.
I love reading C. S. Lewis because it feels like he understands living well. He takes the high philosophy to real life understanding. He doesn’t shy away from hard topics. Living through two world wars did not keep him from experiencing joy and hope.
Actually, living through the horror of war is part of what gives him such delight in the ordinary life lived well. Reading through the works of Lewis I see a man who truly desired to live accepting all that came his way.
Quotes from Lewis:
Love — Do not waste your time bothering wether you ‘love’ your neighbor. Act as if you do, and you will presently come to love them.
Joy — Joy is the serious business of heaven.
Peace — God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself because it is not there.
Patience — It is not your business to succeed, but to do right; when you have done so, the rest lies with God.
Kindness — Our prayers for others flow more easily than those for ourselves. This shows we are made to live by charity.
Goodness — No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good.
Faithfulness — Though our feelings come and go, His love for us does not.
Gentleness — Courage, dear heart.
Self-control — You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending.
I grew up with the Narnia series, loving the magical lands where Kings and Queens were always just and kind. Eventually, I read The Space Trilogy, which says more about God as an imaginative Creator than any other science fiction out there. Of course Lewis own fascination with Ancient Greek and Norse mythology probably influenced my own eager desire to learn those topics. Finally, in my adulthood I began to tackle the more theological works he wrote.
Reading The Screwtape Letters I could find an idea of what it would look like to not live in the Spirit. The entire premise of the book is how demons tempt humans to walk in the flesh. Galatians 5:16 says, “live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.” (NET) By talking from the perspective of a demon Lewis can show how not to live. The demon wants to get into the nitty-gritty ways that humans can be ugly, cruel, and petty. This is where living in the Spirit is about creating a life that is habit-based. By choosing the habit of speaking kindly you will be living in the Spirit.
Books like Mere Christianity and A Grief Observed have provided me with so much insight into the harder questions of life. Many people want a simple answer to pain and suffering. Lewis helps me explore the those hard topics much like a Sherpa leading hikers up Everest.
Choosing quotes from Lewis was like picking from a banquet. A prolific writer and a voracious reader, gives ample insight into the work the Holy Spirit did on him. From mystical Narnia to outer space his fiction regales us with the battle of good versus evil. His non-fiction works take us on journeys of acceptance of truth and beauty.
Though he witnessed the ugliness of war (maybe because he did) he could delight in the everyday joy of life. Christian faith contains many paradoxes. Lewis is not afraid of exploring those paradoxes. I find that reading his work gives me the language to talk about the questions of faith. Questions about how to live when faith is hard.
Lewis went from being a staunch atheist to devoted Christian. That did not stop him from asking questions. For Lewis, the work of faith was questions. The opposite of faith is not doubt, its apathy. (Attributed to Elie Wiesel) I pray for a faith that is willing to ask hard questions. Furthermore, one that does not need to have all the answers.
I grew up with the Narnia series, loving the magical lands where Kings and Queens were always just and kind. Eventually, I read The Space Trilogy, which says more about God as an imaginative Creator than any other science fiction out there. Of course Lewis own fascination with Ancient Greek and Norse mythology probably influenced my own eager desire to learn those topics. Finally, in my adulthood I began to tackle the more theological works he wrote.
Reading The Screwtape Letters I could find an idea of what it would look like to not live in the Spirit. The entire premise of the book is how demons tempt humans to walk in the flesh. Galatians 5:16 says, “live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.” (NET) By talking from the perspective of a demon Lewis can show how not to live. The demon wants to get into the nitty-gritty ways that humans can be ugly, cruel, and petty. This is where living in the Spirit is about creating a life that is habit-based. By choosing the habit of speaking kindly you will be living in the Spirit.
Books like Mere Christianity and A Grief Observed have provided me with so much insight into the harder questions of life. Many people want a simple answer to pain and suffering. Lewis helps me explore the those hard topics much like a Sherpa leading hikers up Everest.
Choosing quotes from Lewis was like picking from a banquet. A prolific writer and a voracious reader, gives ample insight into the work the Holy Spirit did on him. From mystical Narnia to outer space his fiction regales us with the battle of good versus evil. His non-fiction works take us on journeys of acceptance of truth and beauty.
Though he witnessed the ugliness of war (maybe because he did) he could delight in the everyday joy of life. Christian faith contains many paradoxes. Lewis is not afraid of exploring those paradoxes. I find that reading his work gives me the language to talk about the questions of faith. Questions about how to live when faith is hard.
Lewis went from being a staunch atheist to devoted Christian. That did not stop him from asking questions. For Lewis, the work of faith was questions. The opposite of faith is not doubt, its apathy. (Attributed to Elie Wiesel) I pray for a faith that is willing to ask hard questions. Furthermore, one that does not need to have all the answers.