The Fruit of Faithfulness

Faithfulness, or steadfastness, is rooted in perseverance.  We are faithful when we are constant.  We are faithful when we are truthful.  We are faithful when we are dependable.  Faithfulness may be the most important Fruit of the Spirit to our family and friends.

Faithfulness is an attribute of God on which we rely heavily.  If not for God’s unwavering faith, we could not be sure that all of our sins would be forgiven.  Not sure that eternity is forever.  Not even sure if Heaven really exists. 

But, as it is, God will forgive us for a multitude of sins.  We don’t have to worry about how many or which ones.  We are assured that when we enter into our final state, it will be an eternal existence.  And we not only are sure that Heaven exists, we read in the fourth chapter of Revelation about John’s glimpse into the throne room of God.  Yes, we count on God’s faithfulness for everything we have and for everything that is to come.

In what do you put your faith?  Does it demonstrate steadfastness and perseverance, or is it fleeting and tenuous?  Trust in the Lord.  He will never forsake you.

Everyone have a blessed weekend.

My Goodness!

Sometimes isn’t very good…I have bad thoughts about the person who was rude to me, wish evil at times (at least for a few minutes) for someone who has treated me unfairly and occasionally I use bad language, almost always in a funny context.  I know, I’m a minister and I’m not supposed to do that!  I know that!  I really do know that…At least I don’t  get mad to the point of cursing.  I even play (most) of my golf without it!

Ok, so before I condemn myself into being a terrible person, which probably didn’t take my own testimony anyway, let me say a few things about the goodness component about the Fruit of the Spirit.  

Goodness, or righteousness, is not a trait that humans are capable of producing on their own to any appreciable levels.  There are some people who are not followers of Christ who are good people.  In fact, I’ve met a few folks who didn’t believe in God who were nicer overall to me than some of my fellow followers!  This should not be!  But people who don’t believe in God almost always have a point at which their secular humanistic tendencies will outshine their attempts at personal goodness and an ugly side will emerge, betraying their faith that humans are capable of creating their own best selves devoid of any supernatural influence.

The simple fact of the matter is that the only way we can demonstrate righteousness is to be submitted to the Holy Spirit who lives within us upon our being saved.  Try to be good all you want!  It will never be good enough to meet God’s standard of goodness.  And almost good enough is just as bad as terrible in the context of our eternity.  Pastor Adrian Rogers used to say, “I wouldn’t trust the best five minutes of my life to get me into Heaven.”  If he wouldn’t have, I’m certainly not going to trust my best millisecond!  

No, the only way we can attain a righteous status before God is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, believing that He is the Son of God, that He died to pay the atonement for our sins and that He arose on the third day in His glorious Resurrection.  We live our best lives when we are submitted to the Spirit.  And we get the Spirit by being saved.  

Everyone have a blessed day!


Try a Little Kindness

Glen Campbell released a song in 1970 with the title above.  Some of the lyrics are as follows:

…And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets…

There are people who are certainly unkind due to narrow-mindedness:  racists, misogynists, and xenophobes to name a few.  People with prejudices, or irrational fears are often unkind to people to the point of treating them as less than humans.  If you are mature follower of Christ, it is my prayer that you do not fall under this category of narrow-mindedness.  Hatred of others because of their differences to us is a grievous sin, one that would cause someone to have to perform some serious soul-searching to establish his or her relationship with God.

 In contemporary society, there is an unwarranted type of unkindness shown to narrow-minded people, namely to those who follow the teachings of Jesus.  As written by John:

John 14:6–7 (NIV)

6 Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7 If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Some have equated the singularity of Jesus’ position as the sole way to Heaven as “narrow-minded thinking.”  Such a proposition is tantamount to asking followers of Christ to expand their thinking about the number of letters in the word “Christmas”.  To a follower of Christ, the belief that Jesus is the only way to Heaven is as sure as there are nine letters.  There is no reason for unkindness to anyone who believes that Jesus is the only way.

Followers of Christ, then should reflect the image and kindness of Christ when they interact with those who do not believe in the exclusivity statement.  We have every reason to disagree with those who believe in another way to Heaven, but never have a right to be unkind, no matter how we are treated.

Kindness

Driving around lately, I’ve noticed signs in people’s yards that read “Be Kind.”  That sounds like a nice enough thing to suggest.  After all, when we were children, most of us were taught to be kind by our parents and by our teachers at school.

Nowadays, though, it seems the goal of teaching kindness is to instill an attitude of “Expect Kindness” into young people rather than “Share Kindness.”  Some are taught to react with violence when someone else disagrees with them or is unkind.  The answer to the question, “Can we all just get along?” is an emphatic, “NO!”.

Biblical kindness does not require that other people treat us well.  We cannot control the actions of others.  We can only control our own actions and we are commanded by Scripture to love our enemies and to do good to those who wish us harm.  That doesn’t seem fair, does it?  Do you think Jesus thought it was fair that He had to die on the cross?  Do you think it was fair that Jesus had to die on the cross to pay for your sins?

Jesus did not let the actions of others determine how He would treat people, even when they despised Him, spit on Him, cursed at Him, beat Him and eventually nailed Him to the cross.  Rather, Jesus asked the Father to forgive the ones who crucified Him because they didn’t know what they were doing.  That’s seriously biblical kindness.  That’s the type of kindness you can only get from allowing the Holy Spirit to permeate your life and control the reins to your tongue.  The type of kindness found as part of the Fruit of the Spirit is not the kindness we show others on our own.  Rather, it is the kindness Jesus commanded when He said, “Love your enemies.”

Putting up a sing to encourage others to “Be Kind” without expecting to show kindness under all circumstances is tantamount to posting the Ten Commandments in your yard and only expecting to keep a couple of them yourself.

Patience III

Made you wait an extra day there, didn’t I?  How’s the patience working out this week?  Had enough turkey, leftovers or Uncle Harry?  Did the football game not go your way?

Patience is one component of the Fruit of the Spirit that is likely more challenging to most people than some of the others.  We are used to 24-hour news coverage, free two-day shipping and drive-thru everything.  Our lifestyles largely do not foster patience, nor do they even encourage it.  Speed and quantity are often valued over quality.  People also tend to drive farther to work and activities than they once did, necessitating more miles to be traveled.  

In my opinion, one of the greatest lessons of patience taught in Scripture involved Christ’s interaction with the death of Lazarus:

John 11:20–21 (NASB95)

20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house.

21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.

John 11:32 (NASB95)

32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Both Martha and Mary were unhappy because Jesus had not come whenever they first called Him.  As a result, by the time Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had died and had already been buried for four days. 

Jesus taught them an important lesson that day.  There is nothing impossible with God.  We can always trust God’s directions and His timing.  Even when we are sure that time has escaped up and all is hopeless, Jesus can resurrect our lives and set us up anew.  

Patience II

Right down the middle

There isn’t much to brag about in my golf game.  But one advantage of not being a long driver of the ball is the tendency to hit more fairways.  There are some who would argue that today’s game is more of a bomb-and-gouge pursuit where the players hit their drives as far as they can, no matter where they end up, and then do whatever it takes to extract their ball from the rough to get it onto the green.  Hank Haney is a famous proponent of the importance of distance.  To his credit, most of the highest paid professional golfers tend to hit the ball very far.

But for the average golfer, like me, hitting 300-yard drives isn’t in the realm of possibility.  And most golf courses I could afford to play do not have the uniform rough and off-fairways lies the pros enjoy.  Hence, the importance of the fairway.

The picture above shows my ball of the sixth tee of my local golf course.  I hit that drive today, into the wind, about 225 yards.  That’s not very far by today’s standards.  The post in front of the ball is the 250-yard marker into the green.  No chance that I’m going to be making it to the green in two shots.  But, since I have a good lie in the middle of the fairway, there is an excellent chance that my second and third shots will result in my making par or better on the hole.  And that’s the goal in my golf world.

You see, I could lose patience with my golf game and try to hit the ball much farther.  The results would likely be that I would enjoy fewer shots from the fairway and more from undesirable places.  That’s what happens when we deviate from God’s plans for our lives.  We end up off the path he has groomed for us and into undesirable places.  From those, we end up really making a mess of things.  

In the game of golf, it’s easy for one bad shot to result in at least two more strokes on a hole.  The same way in life, we have one bad day away from God’s plan and it can take two or more days for us to get back on the program.  Even though we might not get all the attention for hitting the ball the farthest, we enjoy a lot more success when we are patient and value staying in God’s will for our lives.

If you don’t play golf or aren’t familiar with the game, you may not understood all I have written today.  Be patient for one more day and I’ll post a different example tomorrow which may be more familiar to the majority of people.  If you do play golf, adopt the 80% rule and keep your swing under control.  You’ll enjoy hitting more fairways and playing from better lies.  Stay in God’s will for your life and you will always be working from a preferred lie.  Blessing to everyone for a wonderful weekend!

Peace Gives Us Confidence

When do you perform your best work?  When you are ill-prepared and worried about the outcome or when you are so prepared that you can add a little extra flair because of your confidence?  Most would agree that, when we are achieving with confidence, we produce better results and enjoy the process more.


John 14:26–27 (NASB95)

26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. 27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.

Troubling times…fear…they rob us of our best work.  When we lie in bed, struggling to find restful sleep, we rob our bodies of the energy we need for maximum productivity.  Two things that help us to sleep better are a clear conscience and peace that all is well.  But God knows that we are not able to muster the abiding peace that assures us of our safety and well-being.  That’s why He gives us peace as one of the components of the Fruit of the Spirit.

Jesus told His disciples that He would leave them peace.  He left them the kind of peace that inspires real comfort and confidence.  We have that same peace living within us as followers of Christ.  We have peace knowing that we are not of this world.  We rest assured of our eternal security and righteousness before God through Jesus’ atoning death.  So when you are feeling troubled or restless and find that you are unable to find comfort within yourself, turn to the Spirit that lives within you, the one that Jesus promised to give you.  You will find peace of mind and confidence to move forward in your good purpose that God has given you.  Blessings to all!

Joy and the Spirit

If you read the verses listed in yesterday’s post, you may have noticed some commonalities between them.  Joy used with faith.  Joy referenced with the Spirit.  Joy as a way of life, not an emotion.

I fear that one of the greatest disservices we have done to the Christian faith is perpetuate an untruth that the life of a follower of Christ is a guaranteed happy life.  We are not assured of “happiness” when we accept Christ.  What we are assured is that we have a good God-given purpose.  Embracing that purpose is the key to living our best lives, satisfaction and the joy that ensues from having served our Creator in the way He would have us serve.

Calvin Miller wrote, “Joy is our response to the creation of God.” (Joy: Cultivating Spirit-given Character, Thomas Nelson Pub. 2008).  I get my greatest spiritual joy from contemplating the intricacies of God’s handiwork.  Have you ever thought about how amazing the human ear is?  It takes speakers of all shapes and sizes to accurately produce the sounds of music.  Yet, the tiny membrane in our ear vibrates in such a way that our brain can interpret all the sounds we hear.  Scientists have attempted to explain emotions through chemical reactions related to our sensory organs.  But even happiness is a creation of Almighty God.  We wouldn’t have the ability to feel excitement, infatuation or awe without them having been created by God and given to us in the makeup of our bodies.

During this week of fellowship and thanksgiving, I pray that you find yourself joyful that God has given you life, a good life with a good purpose.  And I pray that you find joy in the simplest of God’s creation.  Puppy breath, the need for hugs and love for family are given to us by the Lord so that we may find joy in His beautiful creation.

Let’s Consider Joy…

…first, since love is such a vast subject as a component of the Fruit of the Spirit (FoS).  We’ll save love for later and study it more thoroughly.

Joy, χαρά chará; gen. charás, fem. noun from chaírō; 

“joy in the Holy Ghost,” meaning the joy which the Holy Spirit imparts by His influence; (Rom.) 15:13; 2 Cor. 1:24; 2:3; 7:4, 13; 8:2; Gal. 5:22; Phil. 1:25

Spiros Zodhiates, The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament (Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 2000).

Rom 15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (NASB:95)

Paul wrote about joy in Romans 15.13 as it related to “the power of the Holy Spirit” and also alluded to the combination of joy and peace, two components of the FoS.  I challenge you to look up the other verses above from 2 Corinthians and Philippians to see how closely they are tied to the Holy Spirit and FoS.  These verses are the ones in which “joy” is translated from the same word as used in Galatians 5:22.  Read the verses to see what connection, if any, is there.  Once you complete the “assignment”, make sure to come back tomorrow and we’ll discuss what you discovered!