So, my bible study group just finished a study on a book titled " Living Each Day in the Name of Jesus. Living each day as if Christ Himself were right there with you as a human, as the being he was 2000 years ago; or, living life in HIS NAME. As each chapter touched on Grace, Giving, Gifts, Scripture, Spiritual Life, (and more), it was the last chapter that really put me in my place. The fruits of the spirit and Galations 5. I've always had the fruits that most people have trouble with and have always lacked in the fruits that most people seem to do fine with. In this last session, i sat down and really examined everything. I even (awfully) found myself automatically thinking of people in my life or people that i know who had certain fruits and lacked others. Which will bring me to my next point, i'll get to it later. Here are the fruits and my own personal definitions for each one:
LOVE: wanting, desiring all happiness and goodness for another, no matter what.
JOY: having the fruits of the spirit create joy - internal warmth / happiness
(interesting how Love and Joy are mentioned first of all of them, Love being the greatest of all, and Joy being only possible when all the fruits are present...)
PEACE: being able to trust in God without reservation and truly feeling HIM take over a situation.
PATIENCE: being able to wait even when you are in an incredibly uncomfortable situation or a selfish situation....it's a virtue, and it's not okay in God's eyes to accept yourself as impatient.
KINDNESS: doing nice things from the heart, even when it's hard or uncomfortable.
GOODNESS: always doing "the next right thing" (thanks Dad for that one!)
FAITHFULNESS: never steering away from your loyalty, even when you're blinded.
GENTLENESS: being considerate of another persons emotions or situation while dealing with them or consoling them; being able to make a person feel comfortable. Gentleness must accompany truth. People who have this fruit seem to be peace-makers (at least most of the people I know!)
SELF-CONTROL: being able to say no to the things that tempt you.
None of these can be in your heart if you don't have love! The greatest of these is love. God commands us to love. The bottom line is that, if you have a heart full of the LOVE OF GOD, then chances are you have most of the fruits. Obviously no one is perfect, and everyone has to stand back and examine their ownself and see which ones that are least evident in their life....we're human, it happens. But with God's LOVE, you CAN have all these.
I feel God working on me which is starting to create that peace within - I just keep praying for more love and more joy. The points that really made a mark on my heart from this study over the last couple months are these (my translation of what I read in the book mentioned above by Ortberg, Pederson and Poling):
~God isn't interested in a spiritual life. He's interested in your life. (my interpretation: Christians put all their eggs in the basket of "what actions am i supposed to be taking as a Christian?" instead of asking themselves "am I "doing life" in Jesus' name?" Let God have control of your life, and then you'll more than likely have a great spiritual life.
~We extend God's grace each time we behave kindly and generously to others - when we pray for them, NOTICE THEM, forgive them, serve them, include them - when we do this, we can experience an UNFORCED fruitfulness. The hard part about grace, is that sometimes we have to accept it from others! That leads to humility though.....
~Read, meditate on scripture, have solitude and prayer time and this is the painless training that will guide your spiritual life.
~Grace and Truth must both be present, one NOT without the other, to have Godly group life or community - each person must accept each individual regardless of falls and shortcomings and lovingly and truthfully guide them.
~Spiritual gifts are the absolute necessity for life and health of a church; when the church has these then it can build a community on servanthood. HUMILITY IS GOD'S MOST TREASURED VIRTUE.
~Whatever your treasure is, is where your heart will be. When you get close to a man's treasure, you've gotten as close as you can get to his soul. Treasure what God treasures, He trusts us with his resources!
And here are 2 things I've heard from 2 different ladies so I don't take the credit, however they are 2 of the most eye opening, profound, and self-examining phrases I've ever heard:
"When I look up at God, I'm not looking down on others."
and,
"If you are not building someone up, you are tearing them down."
See? Profound huh?
so, this was a great way for me to conclude my last two months. God is working on me so!
something else I found interesting, and i challenge you to do this: First read the Corinthians 13 and replace "Jesus" for "Love". nice huh?
then go through and replace "your name" for "love".....ouch, hurts a little doesn't it?
Then, go through fill in the blanks in this question, then answer all your questions.
"WHO DO I NEED MORE (fruit of the spirit here) WITH/FOR?
A lady in my bible study mentioned this excercise. What's really cool, is that she's the lady who will eventually be my daughter's principal! Praise God!