Fruity Spirits Day 8: Gentleness

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Day number 8 of our journey through Galatians 5:22-23 is here!  Today we touch on gentleness.  If you missed any of the first 7 days of this series make sure you check it all out HERE.

I think one of the most challenging "spiritual virtues" that we have touched on in this series so far is the one we're discussing today...gentleness.  It's challenging in the sense that describing gentleness or rather defining what it means isn't really an easy task!  After all...what does it really mean to be "gentle" anyways?!?!

Take a moment to ponder the question - what does being "gentle" look like? - and see how you would define it.  

What comes to mind?

When I think "gentle" I naturally think little fluffy kittens, but hey that's just me.  Hopefully you had something a little more defining in the sense of our own human gentleness come to mind!

In the broader sense of gentleness I think we get a glimpse of how God demonstrates gentleness every single to our very own beings when we look at the way he loves us.  The way he loves on us, shows patience towards us, and gently molds us into who He created us to be is an incredible picture of gentleness.    

Gentleness can most beautifully be shown when we are embodying the previous fruits of the Spirit that we have talked about here.  When we are embodying love, patience, kindness, goodness, all those things, we tend to have this gentle ambiance radiating from us.  In the same way that the Lord actively practices those virtues and shows gentleness in His works, we too can do the same as we learn to embody all the Fruits of the Spirit and begin to practice them in our own lives.  

Being patient and kind and loving on those around us is the first step to becoming "gentle".  Are you starting to see how it all comes together?!

To walk around with a loving, open, God serving heart, we start to naturally relate to others in a more gentle way; not judgmental, not "I'm better than you", not dominance, not anything but just gentle, humble, love for one another in Christ Jesus. 

Sounds like a wonderful thing doesn't it?  

What is one step that you can take today to begin living with a more gentle heart and life?

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

- Galatians 5:22-23

 

Fruity Spirits Day 7: Faithfulness

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Hello day seven!  We've moved along through Galatians 5:22-23 discussing the different Fruits of the Spirit and now find ourselves ready to discuss the seventh Fruit of the Spirit; faithfulness.  Missed the first 6 days?  Check them out using this link here:  Fruity Spirits Series

Faithfulness...what a big word.

Faithfulness can be applied to many different things in life.  

A few things that faithfulness can be attributed to are:

• A husband to his wife (and vice-versa!)
• A dog to its owner (that's how the old saying goes at least, isn't it?)
• A parent to their child
• God to us
• An employee to their long standing employment at a certain job
• To our friends
• Faithfulness to.........you get the point, lots of different things!

With so many things that faithfulness can be attributed to we often forget that we are even practicing the art of being "faithful"!  

The best example of faithfulness though is God's faithfulness to us.  Not only does God say He is faithful; He proves it each and every day.  He means what he says.  He never leaves us.  He is THAT faithful.

So here's a challenge question for you:

Are we being as faithful to God as He is being to us?  

God doesn't walk away from us when times get tough.
He is always faithful.
God doesn't just say that He is going to be faithful to us.
He is always faithful.
God isn't only faithful when He feels like it.
He is always faithful.

...So why then do we choose when to be faithful and mostly only do it when we feel like it or when we have nothing left but to give God our most faith?

Let us truly be faithful to God and never leave His side just as He never leaves ours!

Allow us to practice faithfulness in all aspects of our lives (work, play, relationships, etc.) but let us start by first and more importantly living out our faithfulness to God!  

It's not a matter of "I'll be faithful later" or "God wouldn't really like to see me like this, so I'll just come back to him in a minute"....NO.  Make faithfulness the unending bond between you and Jesus.  God deserves back what He shows to us every single moment of every single day, and though the list of those things is endlessly long...faithfulness is one of them.

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control."

- Galatians 5:22-23

HE WANTS YOU!

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"I want THAT one.  The broken one.  I WANT him.  I don't NEED him, I WANT him."

There can be a sea of Christians and children of God and one single lost soul amongst the crowd and God is going to point them out and say "I want THAT one.  I NEED that one."

Jesus searches out the broken, the wrecked, the ones in need of a love so immaculate words can't even begin to describe it and he tells them He wants - NEEDS - them in His family.

This blows my mind!

A God who has all things looks down at me and you in our imperfections, weaknesses and insecurities and say's "I want you in my family!  I need you in my family.  I would do anything to get you into my family!  Come child, come join me.  Be a part of my family for ever and always."

Jesus doesn't need us, He WANTS us.  He looks at us in our weaknesses and failures and STILL WANTS us.  He WANTS us in His family no matter how bad we mess up, He WANTS us!

The question is...how are you going to respond to His desire for you to be in His family?

Who do they see?

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When people look at you who do they see?

Let's pretend we're not ourselves for a moment....if you were someone else but were looking at the "you" that you are today what type of person would you see?  How would feel about the type of person that you were seeing?  Would it make you happy, proud, sad, or maybe even disgusted?

When other people look at us it is easy for them to tell what type of person we are just by looking at the activities we participate in, the friends we choose, and the conversations that we hold.  What we do in our lives is a direct reflection of the type of person we are or are becoming.  

So when people look at you what are they seeing?  (We're not talking stereotypical-stereotyping here...we're talking what your life shows.)

Honestly take a moment to think about this....exactly what type of person can you be justified as by the life you are living?

Are you proud of the person others are seeing when they look at your life?

Not grasping the concept?...Here's an example.  Do people see Jesus in you?  In order for someone to see Jesus in you it would have to be apparent that you were actively living in such a way that would be a resemblance to Jesus himself.  You would be living your life not for your sake but for the sake of others.  You would be loving the lost, guiding the needed, and in all things acknowledging Him. It would be SO apparent in your life.  

So what is apparent in your life RIGHT NOW that others see?

Go further than "who do they see?", ask yourself "who do I want them to see?" and then challenge yourself to make that change.