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Last week our Pastor gave a sermon on the Fruit of the Spirit, and how do we appear as Christians to those around us! OUCH!! As I looked at the list and thought about how I may come across to others (especially on the sidelines) it became painfully obvious that I was lacking in most of the 9. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfullness, Gentleness, Self Control. Wow, Am I the only one that has a tremendous amount of work to do in this area? Do you think this is important in our Christian walk?
You Shall Know the Tree By It's Fruit. Though I try to "Walk the Walk" daily I know I;ll never do as well as I'd like to but, the awareness helps me strive to do better. Peace is a hard one for me, finding peace within myself is hard.
Under our power, change is near impossible for man. We are to be conformed to Him, to be made into His image. Regenerated into a new creature. The renewal of our mind.
(Col 3:10) And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:
(Eph 4:23) And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
The fruit of the Spirit is the result of the WORK of the Spirit upon your spirit. When you begin the renewal of your mind, THEN you will receive the peace of Christ. I heard that phrase often, the peace of Christ, I never understood it until I felt it. When it first came, my soul rejoiced. I was soooo very high that day. I could not wait to share what I had found. You will not find that peace within you!! So, do not seek it there. Ask it of God, ask for His wisdom.
Many churches these days neglect to teach this important 2nd step. Accepting Christ as Lord and as the propitiation for your sins is the 1st step, but where to from there? The renewal of the mind. Otherwise we are wandering, trying to imagine where the Lord would have us go and what He would have us do. We don't become sensitive to the leading of the Spirit until we make that important 2nd step.
So, humble yourself to the Will of God. Repent of all sin that might stand in your way. Tell the Lord you are willing to follow His leading and then ask for His wisdom in your life. Ask Him to show you the way.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
That verse is conditioned upon a soul being set wholly upon the will of the Father, "nothing wavering". At that point you begin walking in the Spirit.
Galatians 5:16 This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you..........
We worship God in the spirit because He is Spirit (Philipians 3:3). We pray in the Spirit (Ephesians 6:18) because He is Spirit and His Spirit prays through us (Romans 8:26). We aren't saved by His Grace and then allowed to walk haplessly through life, holding onto a few Bible verses and a Sunday sermon to guide us through our day, or at least that isn't our Father's intention. We are together the corporeal Body of Christ in this world. Each serving, in some capacity, the will of our Father. We are to be directed by His Spirit. Until we become in communion with the Trinity and sensitive to our Father's will, we won't be able to be used in our full capacity.
The words of Christ are as follows:
John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
"Not as the world giveth".... This is a peace that is above worldly comforts, above security in this world, it is the peace of having a direct relationship with God. ...of having the Comforter with you and letting you know, you are His, that He loves you and will take care of you. It is the only peace that matters.
You are definitely not the only one that is going through this. I struggle with these things as well. Too often, we let our daily trials get the best of us and end up dwelling on these things rather than focusing on the love, gentleness, kindness and LIGHT that we should be shining.
It's something we should work on everyday!
Great thread...gives us all something to think about!
No Silas...you're not the only one to struggle with this. Almost daily I think about how I should show WAY more love and patience, more kindness, towards others. I have fallen terribly short of these things...I'm sorry. But...I promise to work harder on this...
And there are days I KNOW to act better, but instead I'm foolish. Some days I've caused friction, instead of blessing, among the brethren. Some days I just don't feel any more spiritual than that old rotten stump out back of the house...
Thanks for pointing this out...you're not alone!
Your minister needs a good pat on the back for reminding his congregation that there is more to being a Christian than just walking down the aisle and joining the church.
Too often, the sermons seem to be directed to the "unsaved" sitting in the pew with little or no time devoted to helping those others that may need to strengthened.
Sometimes it seems as if the worth of a minister is judged by the growth in members. I think there also needs to be a growth in the spiritual health of the entire congregation. Otherwise, how can they also be witnesses?
Walking in the Light of Christ iluminates all we need to work on to be more like Him.* Catholics call it being motivated by "guilt".* We see our faults so much clearer when walking in His light, which motivates us to keep trying.
Last week our Pastor gave a sermon on the Fruit of the Spirit, and how do we appear as Christians to those around us! OUCH!! As I looked at the list and thought about how I may come across to others (especially on the sidelines) it became painfully obvious that I was lacking in most of the 9. Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfullness, Gentleness, Self Control. Wow, Am I the only one that has a tremendous amount of work to do in this area? Do you think this is important in our Christian walk
Hi Silas, I agree that it is a very important in our Christian walk because it is evidence of God's work in us and this is what God want for us. Hopefully, we are all growing in these areas as we trust in God to mold and shape us into what He desires for us. It is also good that God places us into situations that call for the development of these qualities. Many times I know that I can't see or may not realize how much I am lacking in an area until God places me in a situation that shows me that I need to grow in this area. God bless.
Last edited by ShanaBrown; 11-25-2007 at 08:20 AM..
Reason: addition
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