Welcome to the beginning of our Dystopian Devotional Series! This week Celeste takes a look at the Divergent series for this devotion. In this dystopia, people are separated into factions, each of which has a different personality. Those who express all of them are considered divergent. Similarly, the fruit of the Spirit carries different aspects however we as Christians are not called to express just one or two of them, we are called to express them all.
Tris is our main character, and she was born into a world where when you hit a certain age, you become part of a faction in society. 5 factions, Abnegation, Candor, Erudite, Amity, Dauntless, and the faction that Tris is born into the faction called Abnegation. They are your typical do good-ers, they live simply and serve the other factions as well as the people who are factionless. Spoilers if you haven’t seen the movies or read the books, but Tris, when she comes of age, decides to choose a completely different faction from all her friends and family., She goes with Dauntless. Dauntless is just the opposite of what Abnegation is. They are rough, reckless, and brave. It’s a whole new world for Tris. Tris though is something different.
Tris does not fit, into one specific mould. She is what is called Divergent. Divergent Is a cumulation of all the factions, she is honest(Candor) peaceful( Amity), brave(Dauntless), intelligent( erudite) and she is selfless(Abnegation). As Christians, these are all qualities that we should strive to have, but we have our own list of things that we should strive to have.
“But the fruit of the toe Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and self-control against such thing there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23 TLV
Paul is telling the people of Galatia that if they have the Spirit of Jesus, this should be how they act. Great! As Christians, we get to have Love, Joy Peace… Faithfulness… and self-control. Hmmm, That last one is not usually a favourite but without self-control, how will you be loving with your words to someone who is NOT being loved to you with their words?
Working in the medical field, I see a lot of scared, sad, angry people. They don’t feel well, they don’t know why their Doctor has sent them to me, and they defiantly do not want to see the lab girl who I am the precursor for. As a result, I have the opportunity every day to use self-control when someone is not being the nicest to me and be loving to them.
The best part of all this? Unlike in Divergent not only a select few get to hold these qualities, Anyone who is a believer in Christ has access to these! Some are more difficult to live out than others. But You! As a Christian have access to self-control! You as a Christian have unlimited access to love. You as a Christian have access to Joy, and God wants you to use the fruit of the spirit! It means that you are closer to Him!
The question of the week: What faction would you want to be apart of in the Divergent Universe? Take this quiz and let us know your answers! https://www.sweetyhigh.com/read/divergent-aptitude-test
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