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George Burns and Gracie Allen moved to a new residence in Hollywood. Shortly after settling into their home, Gracie searched and selected a church to attend. The church she found was on the other side of the city. Each Sunday her driver would take her for a half-hour drive across town. George inquired why Gracie traveled so far when there were other congregations much closer to home. She explained, "When I give my confession, I don't want the priest to know who I am."
Gracie may have been very intent on hiding her identity from the priest, but she was equally intent in letting God know her spirit. Paul writes that "the acts of the sinful nature are obvious," but equally obvious is the "fruit of the Spirit" that each of us displays. We straddle both lists in our humanness. We desire to live spiritually, but in our humanness we will transgress. That is why we need confession, both public and private. That is why we need to keep both of Paul's lists before us. The former is a list of behaviors we struggle to avoid and the latter is a list of attributes that we are challenged to follow.
Gracie may have been very intent on hiding her identity from the priest, but she was equally intent in letting God know her spirit. Paul writes that "the acts of the sinful nature are obvious," but equally obvious is the "fruit of the Spirit" that each of us displays. We straddle both lists in our humanness. We desire to live spiritually, but in our humanness we will transgress. That is why we need confession, both public and private. That is why we need to keep both of Paul's lists before us. The former is a list of behaviors we struggle to avoid and the latter is a list of attributes that we are challenged to follow.
