Living in Your Basement

I grew up in Northern Wisconsin, and we lived in a large brickhouse with a huge basement. As the oldest I was tapped to keep the wood furnance going in the long cold winter. It meant 3-4 trips down everyday. It gave me nightmares.

I was terrified of descending into the darkness. Petrified.

It seems like we’re just 1-2 steps from sin, or maybe 1-2 clicks? I would like to suggest that every Christian has a basement, or cellar. (See Romans 7:14-25.) And, as a believer in Jesus, it’s not required for you to spend time there. You simply don’t belong in that place.

The book of Romans calls it your “sinful nature,” and it’s a part of us–we can choose to descend the dark steps, if we want to. And if we make the choice to keep sinning, we will dwell in a self-induced darkness.

Please believe me. I’m writing from my heart here.

Thankfully Jesus has made us a new creation, 2 Cor. 5:17. We are free to resist sin, and we no longer have to descend into that awful darkness. We’re free to say “No!,” and then say “Yes!” to God’s Holy Spirit. As a Christian, you now have a choice. It’s up to you to decide.

Will you choose righteousness, or will you decide to keep sinning?

O.K. A bit of a shift here.

The fruit of the Spirit needs to be growing in the living room. Not in the basement. Nothing grows in our basement, but darkness and mold and rotteness. Fruit is meant for others to see and experience and enjoy, it’s never hidden. And it shouldn’t be.

God’s fruit will never grow in the basement of your heart.

There’s no such thing as a fruit factory either. Rather there’s an orchard, a cultivating farmer, sun and rain, and maybe some of that “miracle grow” stuff. Patience and hope seem to be biggies as well.

Once again. Everything is based on what you want. And. You’ll need to decide this daily–sometimes hourly (?!).

Cooperating with the Holy Spirit, to grow His fruit is relatively easy. It’s also hard. You’ll need help when the “world, your flesh, and the devil” shows up to ruin your fruit harvest.

Satan hates, abhors, and detests the work of the Holy Spirit that’s growing in your heart. That’s not going to ever change. Don’t expect it to be otherwise. The fruit of the spirit is not “strive, force, push, fight, posture or making yourself look good.”