Which wolf will you feed?

Last Thursday night at Refuel, Dave shared a story that was quite profound in its simplicity and truth. The message was about living a life so that others would know that we are Christians. There are many common phrases that we are familiar with when talking about our actions. The most familiar piece of scripture in Galatians is: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³gentleness and self-control."(Galatians 5:22-23). There is also the familiar quote, "Actions speak louder than words." There way be people who I will never meet face to face, or talk to, but they may see how I act and treat others around me. Will my actions naturally depict the love of Christ within me? Will others see love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control?

The following story talks about those same characteristics in a little different way. It makes me stop and think today about which wolf have I been feeding and which one will I feed?

A Cherokee Legend

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."