“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set you hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”
Colossians 3:1-2
(This photo was taken in October of 2014 while on the island of Maui)
“In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:16
(This photo was taken about 3 weeks ago on a lake in central Minnesota)
“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.”
James 3:9-12
(This photo was taken in April of 2016 at a lake place in central Minnesota)
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Galatians 5:22-23
(We were able to take this photo in May of 2013 on a lake in NW Wisconsin after many years of attempts and practicing Fruits of the Spirit such as peace, patience, faithfulness and self-control)
May we all give and receive the fruits of the Spirit this Christmas season and into the coming year…
Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-Control
It does not surprise me that this is the last thing listed in the Galatians 5:22-23 writing about the Fruit of the Spirit…why? Because as with all aspects of faith it all comes back to us…our attitude, our perspective and most of all our choices. We are blessed with free will, free to choose how we will act in this world.
Free to choose Love or hate
Free to choose Joy or sadness
Free to choose Peace or fighting
Free to choose Patience or hurriedness
Free to choose Kindness or be mean
Free to choose Goodness or cruelty
Free to choose Faithfulness or distraction
Free to choose Gentleness or be unbalanced
Free to choose to use the Fruits of the Spirit using Self-Control
Our guide for all of this is Jesus. God sent him so that reconciliation with God is always available. He loves us and wants us to choose to love him. Self-Control is not easy, I know from experience and I struggle with it as much as anyone.
Getting better at Self-Control is a choice in itself…it is choosing to live a healthy life style. Start by doing devotions in the morning and/or at night every day. Make those 5-10 minutes a priority and be quiet and calm with the Word every day. Given time it will help…then look at how you are physically caring for yourself…be sure you are eating regularly, getting rest and sleep and take a walk for exercise. When you feel things are out of control stop and pray. All of this is possible for anyone; it does not take a large financial investment just commitment. I know how the world we live in will try to distract and dissuade you from continuing…don’t quit. Even when you fall down and feel like you are failing, God is still right there saying “I understand, my own Son experienced frustration and temptation in the world. You are forgiven.”
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
Galatians 5:22-26
I pray we all we seek to live using the Fruits of the Spirit in all we do every day.
Take a look at the picture above one more time…choose to see what is on the other side through that opening…
May God’s Peace be with you
Having Gentleness in life is all about finding a balance. Most of the world is about being tough, determined and pushing your way through this or that. You must be strong to achieve…while all of these traits have value and can definitely be beneficial there are also times in life when tenderness and Gentleness are needed and very helpful. They are typically more difficult times and these traits are not as common for some people. The goal should be to have a balance of all of these traits…most of us are stronger in one type of trait or another and we feel more comfortable expressing and using that dominant trait, however, this does not mean we are incapable of learning and growing into the ability to possess a less dominant trait.
Learning and growing are hard and we need help often to recognize when to be Gentle and when to be tough. The amazing part of a relationship with Jesus is that he can help us with whatever we need…if we let him!
“As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love”.
Ephesians 4:1-2
This message is much different than the one we receive from our world. In order to find the balance we strive for we need to have the messages in the Bible to offset the powerful messages we receive in everyday life.
Don’t go it alone today…seek out a relationship with Jesus…you can start by finding a quiet moment in your day and let him know you want to accept him into your heart today and pray for strength to speak to him again tomorrow and when you don’t know what to say to him…let him know you are listening for him to speak to you.
Tomorrow I will discuss the last of the Fruits of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23…Self-Control.
Peace.
So what does this look like or how can we practice Faithfulness? If you were to look up the definition one of the choices to define it would be “complete trust” and another would be “loyalty”. For me Faithfulness has two elements. First is stating or committing to the fact that you Faithfully follow or believe in something. The second element of Faithfulness is the actions that you perform that show your Faithfulness.
I think there is a popular phrase to describe this…”that is easier said, than done”. It is always easier to say I am a Faithful to this or that than to do things that show your Faithfulness. Because of this many of us are very particular in stating what we are Faithful too. Look at relationships in life… Who would you say is Faithful to you? Who would you say you are Faithful to?
Faithfulness is critical in having a close relationship with others. It means they can depend on you no matter what the circumstances. You are available to spend time with them, you can be trusted and you are consistent in your interactions and when you have a close relationship with another person they give you the same Faithfulness. This type of close relationship opens us up and makes us vulnerable, so if we are ever betrayed by someone it makes it even more difficult to be Faithful again. There is only one relationship that you can rely on to be consistently Faithful and never let you down…that is your relationship with Jesus Christ.
You can trust him, you can believe he will do what is best for you and he will never ever leave you. The key is learning to be Faithful to him. Start with prayer…pray Faithfully…be consistent. Do it everyday, give him thanks, praise him, ask him for help and sit quietly and listen.
“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality”.
Romans 12:12-13
Start and end each day Faithfully talking to God and practice turning to him first for challenges and problems or thanking him first for joyful moments.
Tomorrow we will discuss Gentleness.
Peace.
So in striving to live a Life by the Spirit what does Goodness do for us? That is what we are typically interested in…what will it do for “us or me”. For starters, that perspective usually leads us away from Goodness because of the self-focus. As with all the Fruits of the Spirit, we need to focus on our interactions with others and our relationship with God. Some would argue that Goodness and Kindness are the same thing…for me the difference is Kindness usually involves some sort of self-sacrifice, giving up something of value for another and Goodness is choosing between doing Good versus doing bad things or doing nothing at all.
Choosing to do Good in this world can begin to feel frustrating as you are striving to contribute in a positive way and it seems others keep pushing you back or pushing you down. Do not quit, often times when we do something Good we may not get to see the impact it had on someone and we need to be Ok with that…we need to have faith that whether we see the results or not it is better to do Good for others and for God. The apostle Paul writes in the Book of Galatians…
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. The one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”
Galatians 6:7-10
Choose to sow some Goodness to your part of the world today and it will grow.
Tomorrow I will be back to discuss Faithfulness.
Peace.
This is something we are sure we know it when we see it…Kindness. It feels like the right thing to do, expressing it may not give the result or ending to something we expected or were planning. Often in this world it shows up as something unique and different because it happens so rarely. In fact, when acts of kindness randomly happen they end up going ‘viral’ as they say. It gives me joy to know that Kindness is still something people recognize and they just have to be confident when they make the choice to be Kind it will be worth it.
A recent example is a high school runner who had performed well in an earlier race and was expected to do well in a longer race at an important state meet…nearing the end, as she ran, she passed a younger less experienced runner who had just collapsed and instead of continuing to run past her she stopped to help the competitor to her feet and carried her to the finish line even ensuring the competitor finished ahead of her…Kindness. Helping others get to the finish line with us.
God wants us to do just that…help others to get to know him. Share what we have learned about faith and a relationship with God. Show others the light that shines within us before the Day of Judgment because we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
The day of the coming of the Lord will happen and right now God in his Kindness is patiently waiting for everyone to turn to him before that time…
“But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
2 Peter 3:8-9
Share some Kindness with someone today, it may be the only light that shines in their life this day.
Tomorrow I will discuss Goodness.
Peace.
