This past Friday, we talked about the first five Fruit of the Spirit (if you didn’t catch that post, you can read it here). Today, we’ll discuss the remaining four, as well as my method for living out all nine daily. I hope that you’ve already been making an attempt to live out the first five since Friday. I realize that it’s not an easy task, but I pray that I can help you with that. Here’s the scripture to refresh our memory:
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Goodness Titus 3:4 But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared… God is good. This ties back in to what I said in the last post. We’re called to be like Christ. If Christ is good, we should be too. I believe that goodness is about following God. It’s about integrity. It’s about loving others. To me, goodness is all of the Fruits wrapped into one. Faithfulness Psalm 37:3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness. To befriend something or someone is to become close to it. To know it. To understand it. That’s what we’re commanded to do with faithfulness. Befriend it. Walk in it daily. God is so faithful to us. The least we could do it return the favor. Be faithful to Christ. Love Him. Defend Him to others. We are His bride, after all. Gentleness Ephesians 4:1-2 Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with…gentleness… If this verse looks familiar, it’s because I used the same one for patience. And the explanation is the same as patience. Walk in your calling with gentleness. Show it to others, and you’ll get it back in return. Self-Control Proverbs 25:28 A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls. Destroyed. Easily destructible. That’s what I think of what I read the scripture. Without self-control, you will be destroyed. And honestly, you’ll probably be the one to destroy yourself. Without self-control, you won’t be able to stop yourself from doing reckless things, nor will you be able to stop yourself from being around people who will destroy you. You don’t want to walk around today’s society without self-control. Pray to God for that ability. I promise you that He will help you find it. When I first began to really look at the Fruit of the Spirit and decided that I wanted to make it a priority to make these a normal part of my day, I developed a method of sorts. What I did was focus on one Fruit per day. That’s not to say that I disregarded the other eight Fruit. I was just very intentional about focusing on one at a time. For example: on Monday, I would focus on intentionally going out of my way to show love to people. But the trick is to not only show love to the people you like, but to show it especially to those you don’t. Then on Tuesday, I would focus both on intentionally showing love as well as intentionally having a joyous mindset about whatever the day threw at me, and so on and so forth until I got through all nine. It took me a lot longer than nine days to really form this habit. I went through all nine about four times over. It wasn’t easy, not in the least. But I did it. Through the strength of God, I was eventually able to make living out all nine Fruit of the Spirit not just a habit, but a lifestyle. If this is something you struggle with, I encourage you to not only follow my method, but pray and ask God for help. He’d be more than happy to assist.
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If you’ve been in Sunday school at all, you’ve likely heard of the Fruit of the Spirit. That’s what we’re going to be discussing today in order to prepare ourselves for Monday’s post on the Gifts of the Spirit. I believe that in order to have the Gifts, you have to have the Fruit. The Fruit of the Spirit are not easy to live out daily, but it is possible. I’ve developed a method of sorts to help me accomplish this. I pray that it will help you as well. It takes discipline and prayer. Lots of it. But I do believe that with God’s help, we can display all the Fruit of the Spirit. And once we do that, we can begin to operate in the Gifts of the Spirit. That being said, let’s jump into this topic.
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. We’re going to dissect each part of this verse individually in order to get a full understanding of what it means. Love Matthew 22:39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love is one of the most used words in the Bible (I just googled it). We’re called to love everyone. Not just our friends and family. We’re called to love our enemies. The people who persecute us. The people who we think don’t deserve love. That’s who we’re called to love the most. Jesus died for Christians and non-believers alike. That’s real love. We’re called to show that same unconditional love to everyone we come across. Joy John 15:11 These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness is a feeling. Joy is a mindset. No one is happy all the time. But everyone can be joyful. You can be sad and joyful at the same time. Having joy through a sad time means understanding that it’s okay to be upset, but also realizing that it’s all in God’s hands. The scripture above tells us that God gave us His joy. His joy is inside of us and He wants us to enjoy it to the fullest. Peace John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace… In this world full of chaos, peace isn’t easy to come by. But I have good news: God can give it to us. In fact, He already has. Peace comes through Christ alone. Showing peace means being slow to anger. It means showing grace, whether it’s deserved or not. Be a peacemaker. Patience Ephesians 4:1-2 Walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…with patience… We each have a calling over our life. And in order to walk in that calling, we have to have patience. Patience isn’t an easy thing to accomplish; being patient with God isn’t always easy. God almost never does things on our time. But we must always remember that His timing is best. Patience is also crucial when dealing with people. Showing people patience is a true sign of the Holy Spirit. Kindness Colossians 3:12 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness… We were, and are, chosen by God. We’re chosen to be His followers and His friends. We’re chosen to be like Him. Jesus was the most kind and compassionate person to ever walk this earth. He prayed for and forgave the people who mocked Him, spit on Him, beat Him, and crucified Him. He showed kindness to them even though He knew what they would do to Him. I don’t know about you, but that kind of compassion is inspiring to me. I want to have that level of kindness and compassion. And Christ wants us to as well. I had originally planned for this to be one post, but I didn’t realize how long it was going to be after I finished all nine Fruits. That being said, come back on Monday to discuss the rest of the Fruits, as well as my method for living these out daily. When I just googled the words ‘should christians get tattoos’, 2,870,000 results came up. And when I searched ‘should christians get piercings, 82,700,000 results came up. That’s a lot of personal opinions on tattoos and piercings. And to be honest with you, I don’t agree with most of those opinions. But this post isn’t going to be a debate. I’m going to take the controversial topic of tattoos and piercings for Christians and turn to the Bible for answers. From my research on the topic, I’ve consistently seen three different opinions on the topic. Typically, people are very black and white when it comes to this topic. It’s either, “All tattoos and piercings are a sin. Point blank period. Conversation over.” Or, “Sure! Go to town on some ink and needles and get whatever tattoo and piercing your heart desires!” But occasionally, I would find that little gold nugget of a grey area that says, “Tattoos and piercings are fine, as long as they’re not contradictory to the Bible or to your personal convictions." That’s where I happen to fall on the spectrum. But before we get in to this conversation, I’d like to make it clear that I am in no way trying to push my beliefs onto you. I highly encourage you to take the information I present you, pray about it, and allow God to give your your own convictions on the topic. That being said, let’s get started.
Leviticus 19:28 You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh for the dead, nor tattoo any marks on you: I am the Lord. When it comes to tattoos and piercings, this is the scripture that most Christians turn to in order to prove that it’s a sin. However, they take it out of context. They look at this verse and decide that tattoos are automatically a sin. However, looking at the context, that’s not necessarily the case. In that passage, God is commanding His people to separate themselves from the world. During that time, tattoos and piercings were associated with sinful religious practices. That’s why the people were told to not make markings on their body. However, that’s not to say that all tattoos and piercings are a sin. I honestly believe that it depends on the content and intention of the tattoo and piercing. To help you decide whether or not your body marking is honorable to God, try filtering it through these scriptures and my personal thoughts. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 10:31 So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Exodus 20:12 Honor your father and your mother… Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls. Is your tattoo or piercing being used to glorify God? Or yourself? Are you getting it to inappropriately draw attention to a certain part of your body? Is it demonic or crude? Do your parents approve? Would you be embarrassed to show or explain it to your pastor? Would people automatically assume that you aren’t a Christian by looking at it? Do you feel peace about it with God? If your tattoo or piercing passes through these filters with flying colors, then I say go for it. I don’t personally have any convictions about this topic. I currently have three ear piercings and a nose piercing, and I’m about to get four more ear piercings and re-pierce my nose (because it closed up after I lost my nose ring). I’m also talking to my mom about getting a semi-colon tattooed on my wrist for my birthday in a few weeks. However, please don’t just follow my lead. I encourage you to talk to your parents or a godly mentor, pray, and actually listen to God’s response. I might be the only person in this boat, but coronavirus is ruining my social life. I was at Walmart last night and I ran into one of my best friends Logan. We only talked for about five minutes, but it wasn’t until the short conversation that I realized how lonely I’ve been feeling. I haven’t seen my family in months. I haven’t seen my friends in months. It’s been miserable. And I haven’t realized it, but I’ve been feeling really alone. I mean, sure, it’s been subconsciously in the back of my mind this whole time. But until I saw my friend and talked with him for five minutes, it wasn’t fully recognized. Being away from all my friends and family has been hard. But I realized this morning while I was reading my Bible that I’ve never been alone. God has been by my side this whole time. Even for the past two and a half months when I’ve been stuck at home without any human contact outside of my foster family. God has been here. And since I understand how difficult it can be to remember that, I’m going to give you three scriptures that will remind you that you’re never alone.
Matthew 28:20 I am with you always, even to the end of the age This scripture is written in red in the Bible. That means it came directly from the mouth of Jesus. He spoke those words over 2,000 years ago, but they still remain true to this day. Jesus promises to be with us always. There are no limits or stipulations attached to this. He is always with us. Period. Isaiah 41:10 So do not fear, for I am with you. No matter what we go through, we have no reason to fear because God promises to always be with us. Especially during uncertain times like now, it can be so easy to forget that we’re not alone. When the world is suffering from a crisis, it’s not always easy to see God in the midst of it all. But He promises that He is always with us. Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of good courage … for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Friends and family may forsake you, but God never will. We are never alone because God won’t ever leave. I’ve had my fair share of situations where I felt like God wasn’t there. But He always was. And He always will be. No matter what. So be strong. Have courage. You’ll never be alone. It’s not easy being stuck at home alone. But we’re never really alone. Even when we feel like no one is around. Even when we can’t talk to or see our friends or family. God makes several promises that He will always be there for and with you. He will never leave you. You are never truly alone. My grandmother was a very easy person to talk to. I used to talk to her about my friendship problems all the time because she always had great advice. Forgiveness was something that she really helped me with. She would always tell me, “Forgive like you’d want to be forgiven.” That’s not always an easy thing to do. Forgiveness is one of those things that we always want, but aren’t so quick to give away. But it was, and still is, one of Jesus’ biggest messages. Jesus is the Ultimate Forgiver. He forgives unbelievers and christians alike without a second thought. It’s so natural for Him; we see that all throughout the Bible. And we, as Christians, are called to be like Christ. That includes forgiving others unconditionally. Here are a few scriptures that will show you how important forgiveness is to God.
Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. We are commanded to forgive others just as God forgave us. God is a merciful God. There is nothing we could do that God wouldn’t forgive us for. No sin is too great. No shame is too much. God will forgive us for any and all of it. We should be willing to do the same for others. Matthew 6:14 For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. In case the commandment above wasn’t enough, here’s an incentive. If you can forgive others, God will forgive you when Judgement Day comes. However, the opposite is also true. Matthew 18:21-22 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Jesus isn’t saying to forgive literally only seventy-seven times. He was making a point to Peter about forgiveness. We are supposed to forgive as many times as we are wronged. There’s not a limit on how many times someone is forgiven for messing up. Matthew 5:38-40 You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. Not only do we forgive, but we’re called to walk away. Don’t retaliate. Don’t seek revenge. Revenge is the Lord’s and His alone. Forgiveness is not an easy task. It requires us to put aside our selfish desires and put others first. It requires us to show mercy, even when we think it isn't deserved. But with lots of prayer and humility, it is possible. Remember to forgive as you’d want to be forgiven. |
MissionIn short, I started this blog because I want to give girls all over the world hope. All of the topics I write about on this blog are things that I have struggled with or am still struggling with. I want to help young women everywhere achieve freedom through Christ. Archives
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