Hymn: “He Lives” – Words and Music by Alfred Ackley (1887-1960)
Tune: ACKLEY
The level of love, goodness and kindness present in Christ Jesus is like no other. If you stack these qualities found in anybody else, his stack is always taller.
These are three of the nine fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22-23: LOVE, joy, peace, patience, KINDNESS, GOODNESS, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control.* Each of these is also a great descriptor of Jesus himself. I guess if Ackley had included a few more measures in this hymn, he could have included all nine… because none other is so-any-of-them!
When we look for role models, we need to look first to the One who is in a category all by himself – that being perfection. Then we look for humans whose lives stack up highest in these areas. Ultimately, we set out to measure up personally… not to perfection but to high achievement!
Look for Jesus in others today. Be Jesus to others today.
Not a bad epitaph to leave behind: He/She was loving, good and kind.
NOTE: This ends our week-long post-Easter guided tour through this great gospel song. I hope you've enjoyed the journey! Next week we'll be onto more hymns that speak to us one line at a time.
* - An easy way to remember these nine fruit of the Spirit is that the first three are one syllable, the second three are two syllables, and the third group is three syllables.
Sing-along Version
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