When I hear or read anything that has to do with "bearing fruits", I instantly think of the fruits of the spirit listed in Galatians 5:22. Although that is a great guideline to follow on our walks with Christ, this chapter really gets into the nitty gritty details of each fruit and lists other verses besides the one in Galatians that we can refer to. Each quality is intertwines with the other and they all make very important components of how we should live our daily Christian lives (remember, our walk with God isnt a job, but a LIFESTYLE). Everyone has their own way of doing things but these pointers on how to cultivate a good crop really helped me put into perspective whether my methods were efficient or not.
Honestly, a few fruits I need to work on protecting and watching them grow are patience and gentleness. When it comes to things that get under my skin, I tend to be a little too blunt and may not approach the situation in the nicest way. I dont realize how "mean" or "harsh" I was until after the fact. Stormie's analogy in the introductory paragraph of having to plant a seed and protect it until it is fully flourished is a great way for everyone to track their progress in a sense. We always say "I need to work on this", "Im going to fix that", but are we actually doing something about it? And when we do, are we being consistent in pushing towards the solution? What really stuck with me is the particular characteristics that I need to work but not only to pray for them once and expect them to change, but to MAKE the change and KEEP praying. Please pray in agreement with me in this particular area ladies and I hope everyone has found an accountability partner also, because having a buddy to check you when you dont notice what youre doing helps so much. As always, love you all and have a great week!
God Bless you Benine, i agree that it isn't just enough to pray for a change in your life or character, you actually have to incorporate that change in your everyday life and be intentional about it. One sentence in the prayer section that i highlighted was "Enable me to be self-controlled in my thoughts, words and habits" because that is an area that i need to work on really badly. At the end of the prayer Stormie says "I ask that the fruit of your spirit will grow in me and be recognized clearly by all who see me so that it glorifies you". this is my prayer as well because no matter what fruits grow in you people will see so you have to be careful if it glorifies God or the enemy. This really resonated with me because i was recently accused of saying something that i did not and when i asked my father why he would believe that i would say such a thing his response was "i know what you are capable of when you are mad" (hence my prayer for self control in my words thoughts and habits). But he was able to believe the worst because of the fruits that i have portrayed in the past. As children of God we have to be careful the fruits portray because we are watched closely to see who we glorify through our fruits.
ReplyDeleteGod Bless Beloveds!
~Loved & Blessed~*
Amen Abbie, I totally agree and God bless you too. I have a suggestion for everyone, I actually just did this with my mini bible study group here at school. If you took about an hour out of your day to write out each fruit of the spirit on a notecard and look up verses that describe it more into detail and maybe hang it up or put in a place that you might see it frequently, it helps. Its not about just knowing the word, but becoming more familiar with it. Hope this idea works for you all!
ReplyDeleteThank you Benine for a great post & suggestion ! I already found a spot in my room where those 9 juicy fruits will be displayed (no more space on my board - deja!?); they were my desktop background for a while, till the poster of Jesus Culture concert took over lol.
ReplyDeleteTwo fruits I desperately need to work on (keep me accountable) are faithfulness and patience: my own words did not mean a thing for a while, I would promise something & not keep up with it (I blame the fact that it's quite difficult for me to say no to people); so now I am learning to value my own words and learning to weight them before speaking them so that i may be dependable, & reliable! My patience is currently being tested at my job, pray for me for continual Spiritual guidance so that I come out victorious of those tests!
Random: before getting into this Jesus thing, I've always thought that "asking for whatever you desire, & it shall be done for you" meant asking for material things, things we see with our physical eyes. This would explain the frustration because I was not asking for the right things (wisdom, faithfulness, patiencr, self-control, etc ). Knowledge is power indeed (Hosea4:6). & since God is faithful in His word, let us be careful in what we are asking, for it shall be granted to us!
I love the suggestion Benine! Posting stuff on my wall doesn't work too well for me anymore since I don't spend too much time in my room... but what I have found does is carrying the index cards with me and making it a point to go over them daily. So I shall do that with the fruits of the spirit.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter was very timely for me. This year is my year of kingdom maturity and I need to grow in ALL those areas! To be honest I felt overwhelmed reading them cuz I felt like I had a week to get them under control until we move to the next chapter, but Holy Spirit reminded me that the point of this book is to guide us on how to pray and it's just a starting point for a lifetime lifestyle change. I so can't wait to look back and evaluate how much I have grown in living out and praying for these fruits of the Spirit.